Cursed and Blessed
by TyrothDarkstorm
Summary: After Tyroth is struck down by a mysterious assailant, it is up to Sephie to save her beloved mate, but what chance does she have against someone that could defeat the mighty dragon? Regardless of the outcome, their lives will be forever changed, as fate as more in store. Rated M for violence, swearing, blood and sexual content. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, and welcome to a new story, this time we're making a bit of a time skip, jumping a few years into the future. I may also try a few things during the course of the story, to see if they're anything for me, and if you guys like them. Time to get this show on the road!**

 **Cursed and Blessed**

 **Chapter 1**

 **In Mutopia**

It was close to midnight, in one of the more run-down areas of Chicago. Several policemen and women had just arrived in an abandoned warehouse and were currently taking care of the large number of severely beaten criminal thugs. A man in his late thirties arrived on the scene, his short orange hair and large bushy moustache had stains of grey. Adjusting his trench-coat, he walked over to one of the female cops.

"Sergeant Harris, what do we got?" he asked.

"Pretty much the same as the last two times, Commander Beauregard, another busted minor drug-cartel. Everyone inside have been beaten unconscious and tied up. Seems like the vigilantes have their aim set on this group."

"Sure does, and I'm glad for that."

"Commander, do you really approve of their actions? They are acting outside of the law, by all accounts, they are criminals as well."

"I know that, but I also know that they aren't held back by all the damn political red-tape that keep us from taking down creeps like these, and that has made the streets a lot safer. Besides, aside from the testimonies of their… 'victims', which are about humanoid animals, there are no real evidence against them."

'And if there is, they got ways to make them disappear.' Hugh Beauregard thought to himself, smiling on the inside.

* * *

A while later, in the mutant sanctuary underneath Chicago known as Mutopia, the Chicago Knights had just returned from their nightly patrol.

"That's the third cartel we've taken down in five days, that has to send a message to the higher ups in the criminal food-chain." said Jack the wolf, unofficial second-in-command of the team.

"Yeah, no drugs in our city!" said Sharky the shark.

"Still, I would have hoped for something that could lead us to whoever is in control." said Heather the dragonfly. "Even if it is good to remove the cartels, right now it feel like we are only removing the top of the weed, not the root."

"We'll get them, Heather. Sooner or later, they will slip up, and we'll be able to take them down for good." said Sephie the gecko.

"But until then, I say that we relax for a while, we've earned it." said Percy the grasshopper. "And some of us have a boyfriend to call, isn't that right, Kate?"

"Shut up, you fucking vermin!" the viper snapped.

"Alright, that's enough, you two." said Tyroth the dragon. "However, Percy, if you still have energy enough to tease Kate, you and I can do some sparring."

"Um, no thanks, boss. I'm fine."

"And I was almost looking forward to that show." said Tyroth's sister, Amber the marine iguana.

"So was I." said Sarah the cheetah. "Even if it would a very one-sided fight, there is almost nothing that would stand a chance against Tyroth."

"Yeah, he's the best there is." said Sephie. "And the most handsome too."

"Stop it, girls, you're making me blush." said Tyroth, to which the others laughed.

"Uncle Tyroth! You're back!" a small, pink chameleon girl in a yellow dress shouted as she ran up to the dragon.

"Hey there, Sonia." Tyroth said as he lifted her up in his arms, giving her a hug before putting her back on the ground.

"Come and play with me! You promised you would when you got back!" she said, tugging on his hand.

"I haven't forgotten, sweetheart, we'll get going straight away."

"Yay!"

"Looks like you'll be busy for a while." said Sephie. "And here I was hoping that you and I could do something."

"Sorry, babe, but I did promise. I'll make it up for you later." Tyroth said with a quick wink. As he took Sonia's little hand in his own and walked to her room, the other simply stood and watched.

"To think that that little squirt turned eight just a few weeks ago, it feels like we found her not long ago at all." said Sharky.

"She is growing up so fast, and I'm sure she will become a beautiful woman one day." said Heather.

"No doubt about that, but it can't have been easy for her growing up here, being the only child in the entire village. She really should have had someone her own age to play with too." said Sarah.

"Nothing we can do about that, unless any of you feel like adopting from an orphanage." said Percy.

"I sort of wish we could, for her sake, but we can't do something like that to other children, it wouldn't be right." said Sephie. "At least there is Pandora, Raphael and Monalisa's little girl. She may be young, but she and Sonia got along quite well when we visited them, they played all the time."

"Too bad that it's so long to New York, it's a lot of fun when they come to visit us, but since Pandora was born, they haven't been able to visit, since she's so young." said Jack.

"Yeah, but Pandora should be old enough for them to come visit again in a not too far future." said Sephie.

"I really hope so, I'd really like to see the gang again." said Amber. "How about we try and plan something for then to the next time they visit."

"I like that idea. A real party would be awesome." said Kate.

"Yeah, let's see what we can think of." said Jack.

"Planing something big, are you?" a voice suddenly asked behind the mutants, making them all jump a little. Turning around, they saw Hugh Beauregard walking up to them.

"Oh, Hugh, you scared us." said Heather. "But yes, we want to do something fun with our friends from New York the next time they come by."

"The turtles and lizard, huh? There was a rat too, if I'm not mistaken. Sounds fun, but I'm afraid I'm not here for fun, but rather business. Where is Tyroth?"

"He is busy at the moment." said Jack.

"I see, well you will tell him what I tell you, so there's no problem with that. Anyway, after your little raid earlier tonight, great job by the way, on the way back to the station I got an anonymous tip on my phone. If it is true, another cartel will be established tomorrow night, somewhere in the harbour area to the north, by Lake Michigan."

"That's an odd tip, and very specific about the time and general area." said Sarah.

"I know, it all feels like a bad joke, but my gut tells me that there is more to it than that. I really hate to ask you to check out things like this, but if there is anything there, I know that you will be able to handle it."

"Don't worry about it, Hugh. We will investigate it tomorrow night, that should be the best time to spot anything suspicious." said Amber.

"Thank you, I really appreciate what you lot are doing for the city. It's a real shame that you don't get the credit you deserve for it, but I suppose that is for the best. But I can't stand around here all night, gotta get back to the station before anyone starts wondering where I am."

"Sure thing, Hugh, and thanks for the tip." said Sharky.

"Guess we got tomorrow planned and ready then. Can't wait to teach those drugdealing fuckers a lesson they won't forget." said Kate.

* * *

A few hours later, Tyroth and Sonia had played together long and well, and the little mutant girl had gotten very tired once they were done. Being close to her bedtime, Tyroth thought that she could do well with an early night and helped her to get ready for bed. Once she was all done, he read her favourite story, Cinderella, for her.

"… and they lived happily ever after. The end."

"I love that story. Thank you for reading it, Uncle Tyroth."

"Any time, Sonia." Tyroth said, putting away the book and gave Sonia a hug, which she gladly returned.

"I love you, Uncle Tyroth."

"I love you too, sweetheart." Tucking in Sonia, Tyroth gave her a kiss on her forehead and turned off the reading lamp, leaving only a night light on as he walked to the door. "Good night, little one, sweet dreams."

"Night night..." Sonia half yawned, she was really tired and had only stayed awake to hear the end of the story, so it didn't take long before she was soundly asleep.

Gently closing the door behind him, Tyroth sighed happily. She was such a sweet little girl, but she was growing by the day, and soon she wouldn't be little any longer, she already looked like a twelve year old. Many both wondered and worried how she would develop in the future, especially once she hits puberty.

"She's asleep?" Sephie asked as she met her lover just outside Sonia's room.

"Yes, she's on her way to dreamland as we speak." the dragon answered with a smile.

"She's really lucky to have you as her adoptive uncle." Sephie said, embracing Tyroth and kissing him passionately. "And I'm very lucky to have you as my mate."

"I feel like the lucky one, if you ask me."

"Well, I wasn't asking you, you silly," she said, playfully poking him on his muzzle. "but I glad to hear it."

"And I am glad to be able to tell you." he said and kissed her on her nose. "Anything happened while I played with Sonia?"

"A few things, I'll tell you once we get back to our room, after that..."

"After that, you and I will spend the rest of the day together, just like I promised. How about we cuddle down in bed and watch a movie before calling it a night?"

"That sounds lovely. Should I wear anything extra for this date?"

"It depends, do you have anything that would be fitting?"

"Well, I do have something, but it's not much..." she then leaned in and whispered the rest in his ear. "… nothing at all…"

Tyroth felt chills running down his spine, and Sephie smirked while she waited for his response, but she wasn't really prepared for what he did. He quickly scooped her up in his arms, making her gasp in shock, holding her as a bride, and carried her to their room. They wouldn't come out of there until the next day.

 **And that's the end of the first chapter, and a tad hot too.**

 **Now, the reason for the jump in time is to get more in sync with those of Bloodrayne666, since we both consider each other's stories as canon. If you haven't read her stories, I urge you to dd just that, they are great, especially those with Pandora, she is so cute!**

 **But now I leave you for the time being, and I will see you at the next update. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning! This chapter contains lemon (sexual content)! If you are in anyway offended by this, scroll down to the first line break and continue reading from there. You have been warned!**

 **Chapter 2**

 **The Hunt Begins**

Waking early the next day, Sephie stretched herself a little while still laying in bed. Looking at the clock on the nightstand, she saw that it still was early in the day, yet she had woken up for some reason, most likely because they had fallen asleep almost directly after finishing the movie. Feeling a presence behind her, Sephie smiled, knowing that her man was right next to her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw him sleeping peacefully on his side, with the duvet having slipped down enough for Sephie to see his muscular chest. It felt like she could watch him forever, the man that she had chosen as her own, who had chosen her as well. She always enjoyed looking at his handsome features, especially when he slept, he looked so vulnerable and yet so peaceful.

After admiring her lover for a while, Sephie moved closer, placing her bare back against his chest, she felt his warmth, every breath he took and his heart beating strongly. When Tyroth felt Sephie close to him, he put his arm around her, letting it rest on her stomach. Even while sleeping, he wanted to hold her close, and she snuggled in even closer.

With every breath gently tickling the back of her neck, sending pleasant chills down her spine, Sephie felt like the luckiest girl in the world having such a wonderful mate. Even after everything they had been through over the years, their love still burned strong and bright like a beacon at night, and she knew that that would never change, no matter what.

Laying there in her lover's warm embrace, Sephie felt something touch her butt, and she didn't have to guess what it was. Being so close to each other, so intimate, had caused her love's organ to rise, gently pressing against her buttocks. Sephie didn't mind, quite the opposite, she felt incredibly flattered over Tyroth reacting to her like this, even when asleep. The fact that he found her so beautiful and sexy, even after their mutations, was heartwarming for the gecko-girl. It had helped her come to terms with her own transformation and actually feel like she was as beautiful as he thought.

But at that moment, she didn't care about their troubled past, they were in their own little sanctuary together, where nothing could disturb them.

Feeling Tyroth's erection continuing to grow, a hunger within Sephie also grew, a hunger born of passion and lust that she could not quench. Carefully rubbing her behind against her mate's organ, it grew slightly more and twitched a little, and Sephie increased the tempo a little more.

She needed him, she felt that, but she also wanted it to last.

Reaching up with her tail, she began stroking her lover's organ with the tip, while she moved her hand down to her opening and let it rest just above it. She was getting warmer and her breaths started to become slightly more shallow as her arousal grew. She started to massage her smooth, scaly breast with her other hand and moved her tail to be able to take a form of grip around Tyroth's erection and slowly jerking it, making it grow to its full size.

As she lay there, she rubbed her hand over her entrance, letting a finger slide inside, going ever so deeper as she continued. She could feel the musky scent of her wet opening, the touch of her finger inside, but it wasn't enough, she craved more.

Shifting her position in Tyroth's arms slightly, she spread her legs and used her tail to guide her lover's organ to her entrance, but she didn't let it enter, instead she kept it just against her opening, rubbing herself against it as she moved her hips. It felt so good she bit her lip in an attempt to stifle her moans of pleasure, but as she continued, and that tickling pleasurable feeling built up more and more, she couldn't hold them back.

"…more… I want more..." she groaned between breaths.

"Having fun, are we?" she heard Tyroth ask, and her eyes widened when she realized that he was awake.

"Tyroth, I-" she said, looking over her shoulder, but Tyroth place a finger on her lips and smiled.

"You don't have to explain, I feel the same heat as you do." he said and kissed her cheek, followed by her nose and finally her lips, first one simple kiss, then more, each one being more passionate than the last, and Sephie eagerly returned the kisses. She felt her lover's tongue prod her lips, begging for entrance, and she wasn't late with allowing it. As their tongues danced, Sephie let Tyroth run his hands over her scaly stomach and chest, massaging her breasts with both hands before moving one down to her wet opening, and carefully stroked it with a finger, letting it slide deeper in ever so gently.

"I want you..." Sephie said when they broke the kiss, gazing into her lover's eyes with a passion burning like wildfire in her eyes. She was met by a just as passionate gaze from the dragon as he spoke.

"I want you too..." he said softly.

"Please, take me… please… I can't wait anymore..." the gecko-girl begged, lust starting to cloud her mind, but she had no doubt about what they were doing, no second guesses, this was what they both yearned after. Each other.

With his erection already wet and slippery from Sephie rubbing her opening against it, it would have been easy for Tyroth to enter his mate as they were, yet despite the powerful urge he took it slow, not wanting to hurt her. His tip was prodding her entrance teasingly for a short moment before it slowly slid in, causing Sephie to gasp as she felt the thick organ fill her up.

Tyroth moaned as well, feeling Sephie's warmth close around him. For a short while, neither of the two reptilian lovers moved, they just took a moment to fully embrace the intimate bond they had.

"I love you..." Tyroth whispered softly into Sephie's ear and kissed her on the side of the neck.

"And I love you… with all I am..."

The couple started moving their hips, first slowly and out of sync, but it didn't take long before they found a rhythm. As Tyroth thrust into her harder and harder, Sephie angled herself so he could reach even deeper, breathing heavily while her lover also massaged her breasts. She had no words to describe how heavenly it was to make love with such a passionate mate, for how wonderful it felt. Building up within them both, was an overwhelming sensation of soon to be ecstasy, growing stronger and stronger.

But before they reached their limit, Tyroth pulled out, much to Sephie's displeasure. It didn't last long though, as Tyroth simply switched position, placing Sephie on her back and himself on top, entering her again and resumed jabbing with his hips. Reaching down with his head, he licked and sucked on her nipples, while fully opening his wings and placing them around them like walls.

This simple action made it feel like they were making love in a place where they weren't allowed, with the risk of being discovered during their intimate and forbidden dance, further adding to their excitement, and the combination made Sephie moan even louder.

"Almost..." Tyroth said between his hefty grunts, as he got close to his limit, feeling as if he was about to explode like a nuclear bomb.

"Me too… don't stop… go faster…" Sephie pleaded, as a fire within burned all the stronger with every thrust.

Moments later, Sephie was overcome by sheer ecstasy and cried out in orgasm, her opening squeezing tightly around Tyroth's erection, sending him over the edge and releasing himself within his lovely mate, letting out a cry of passion.

Waiting for the wave to subside, the two lovers held each other close and shared a passionate, yet soft kiss.

* * *

It wasn't until around breakfast-time that Tyroth and Sephie left their room, having taken their time to properly freshen up.

"Mmm… now that's a great way to start the day." said Tyroth, stretching a little as he and Sephie walked to the canteen. "Wouldn't you agree, love?"

"I do, but I just know that I'm gonna get really tired later today."

"Well, I didn't hear you complain earlier. And it was you who started it."

"I know, and I don't mind, I'm just saying that I'll probably get tired later. Still, it was so worth it, and I really worked up an appetite. I wonder what Louie have cooked up today."

"Judging from the smell, it's something tasty. Eggs and bacon at least, and something spicy."

As the couple entered the canteen, they saw about a third of the inhabitants already sitting and eating, and one in particular noticed them and waved at them.

"Tyroth! Sephie! Over here!" called a human woman with raven-black hair and red eyes. It was Devina, a vampire werewolf hybrid that the team had met when they were transported to Skyrim, and that had followed them back to Earth.

"Hey, Devina. Haven't seen you for a couple of weeks. Been busy on the surface I assume." said Tyroth as he and Sephie sat down at Devina's table.

"Like you wouldn't believe, there is so much I still don't know or truly understand. Language and slang, rules and laws, devices, history, lore and so much more. Even after all these years, and after studying people on the surface for weeks at a time, I still don't know even a fraction of what I think I need to be able to act as if I'm part of society."

"We felt about the same way when we tried to blend in in Skyrim." said Sephie. "You will get the hang of it all in due time. I'm just glad that you can be on the surface, given that this is another world and all."

"You mean the sun, yeah, it was a pleasant surprise that I could be out in it here as well, though the summers could get really hot, too hot for me some days."

"You're not the only one, at least down here it's quite cool even during those days, and the evenings and nights are actually quite pleasant." said Tyroth.

"That they are, but they are so bright here in Chicago, all the lights and such. Don't get me wrong, it's really pretty, but sometimes I just have to get up high and above and look at the starry sky from the shadows. I understand why you keep to the rooftops, aside from your appearance that is, the view is gorgeous. Speaking of which, and I'm sorry if I'm rambling, but I heard that you are going out on a hunt later tonight."

"If you're referring to the patrol to try and find a new base of drug-dealers after the tip Hugh was given, then yes, we're going on a hunt." said Sephie.

"Would you mind terribly if I joined you?"

"You want to join us? Well, I must say that I'm a little surprised, but I can't see any real problem with that." said Tyroth. "You have lived longer than any of us, even Gramps. We know that you can handle yourself, and you know how to be stealthy, but I must ask why."

"Well, I got this need to hunt, I get it roughly every other month or so, it comes with being part werewolf. Back in Tamriel, those times used to be good to simply hunt for food as well, but since coming here, I've suppressed it, but the need has grown quite strong, so I was hoping to be able to help you and satisfy my need at the same time."

"You've been fighting hunting instincts as well as the blood thirst? I didn't know that you had that much going on, and from one that also has suffered from vampirism, I can relate, at least partially." said Sephie, shuddering as she remembered her craving for blood.

"It's very strong of you to have held out for this long, but you do realize that we can't just let you kill someone, even if they are criminals. If we have to in battle, then it can't be helped, but for the most of the time we try to keep them alive if possible." said Tyroth.

"I understand, and I don't have to kill, just track down and catch the prey, which most likely will result in a fight. But you can count on me, I won't become a burden, in fact, I want to help you just as much to repay you all for everything you've done for me, everyone here has been wonderful to me, especially Louie. He can make a steak so bloody that it even satisfies my blood thirst, and tastes a lot better."

"I'm sure he appreciate the praise. But you don't have to repay us for anything, you helped us so much back in Skyrim, that we're the ones that owe you. Still, if you want to help, you're welcome to join us tonight." said Tyroth.

"Thank you. This will be a new experience, being a crime-fighter like you guys. I'm really looking forward to it."

"I bet the others will be happily surprised with a new teammate for tonight." said Sephie with a smile.

* * *

And that they were. As the Chicago Knights assembled by the exit, they were not expecting Devina to also be there, let alone that she was joining them for the mission. No one had anything against it though, Devina was a member of their family, and any who wanted to fight crime alongside them were welcomed, provided that they knew what they were getting themselves into and could take care of themselves in a fight. Devina was one such person, with her magic, long life experience and beast form.

They made their way through the sewers of Chicago, heading to the harbor area by Lake Michigan where they surfaced and headed up onto the rooftops.

"What's the plan, boss? We got a lot of ground to cover." said Jack as he and the others looked out over just a small portion of the area they had to search.

"Aye, and I'm afraid we will have to split up." said Tyroth and thought for a short while. "Since we're ten, I think five groups of two will be enough."

"So who's going with who?" asked Kate, shooting a worried and annoyed look at Percy. Tyroth thought for a few more moments before coming to a decision.

"Heather, you and Percy go to the far north part, since you're among the most mobile of us, likewise, me and Devina will check the far south. Sephie and Amber will focus on the area just north of here, while Jack and Sarah does the same to the south. That leaves Sharky and Kate with the middle, it's a bigger area, but you're closer to it. If anyone finds something, investigate from a distance and call the rest of us, also remember the emergency button if things go bad. And all of you, be careful."

"That goes for you too, babe." said Sephie, who walked up and gave her man a kiss, then she turned to Devina. "Look after him, Devina, okay?"

"I promise, Sephie."

Dark swirls of Devina's shadow rose up and covered her as she transformed into her beast form, a powerful werewolf with the wings, ears and snout of a bat, her fur being raven-black while her skin was sickly pale.

The team used to be rather shocked about her beast form, not because how she looked in it, but because she could actually change form, and as time went on, they became used to it.

"Well, shall we get going then?" Devina asked with a dark, more growling voice, feeling the rush of the hunt starting to build up.

 **Hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, regardless if you read the first the part or not. I wanted to try something new, and I'm interested to hear what you think of it.**

 **Happy news for all that liked my Skyrim crossover, Devina is back, and she is as badass as always.**

 **More is to come, but things are going a bit slow due to personal reasons such as work and more.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Fumetsu Misuto**

Several hours passed, and none of the five groups had found any trace of the new cartel that Hugh had been tipped about, which was both confusing and aggravating.

"Still nothing." said Tyroth as he and Devina had checked the last place such an organisation could be hidden. "This is very strange, especially since the others haven't found anything either, they would have let us know."

"Are you certain that the information Hugh got was trustworthy?" Devina asked, still in her beast form.

"No, quite the opposite, and that shouldn't be surprising, but it seemed to be far too much of a coincident. We've already taken down three cartels in less than a week, and that Hugh would get an anonymous tip about a new one so short time after the last one, that just doesn't add up. At the very least I expected some form of trap for us, but there's been no signs of that either. I got a strange feeling about all this, and I really don't like it."

"Should we meet up with the others and return to Mutopia?"

"I guess, not like there is much else we can do at the moment."

As the two were about to leave the rooftop, a very thick fog suddenly enveloped the top of the building.

"Well, this got ominous." said Tyroth, as both he and Devina readied themselves for combat, standing back to back as they scanned their surroundings with all available senses.

"There is something… strange on the air, I can smell it." said Devina.

"Aye, me too. Stay on your guard."

The fog kept growing thicker, then it began to slowly disperse, but it still surrounded the rooftop.

"Greetings, my dear non-human vigilantes!" a surprisingly jolly and happy voice said all of a sudden, causing the duo to turn towards it. Standing on the corner of the rooftop, was a very strange looking individual. He was dressed in light grey pants, Japanese wooden sandals, a short, white robe with long, big sleeves and blue embroidery, as well as a red hood strapped above his head, with a red scarf around his neck. His entire head was covered by grey clothe and he had a white mask over where his face would be, on that mask was a very happy face, matching the tone of his voice.

"And how are you all doing this lovely night?"

"Who are you?" Tyroth asked, still gripping his blade tightly.

"Ah, how rude of me, my apologises. I am known as Fumetsu Misuto." the stranger said, bowing deeply and a bit exaggerated.

"And what is it that you want?"

"Oh, I am here on important matters, my dragon fellow. You see, I aim to kill you." Fumetsu said, still with his jolly voice.

"What?! Kill me?!"

"It is nothing personal, I promise, it is just business." A pair of katana fell out of his sleeves, which he caught in his white satin-glove covered hands and then pointed at the dragon. "Shall we?"

"I don't know what your deal is, but you clearly don't know who you're messing with!" said Tyroth as both he and Devina were ready to take on this mysterious figure.

"But of course, it's no fun if there's no challenge to it."

With lighting speed, Fumetsu jumped across half the roof and landed between the winged fighters, slashing with both katana at them right before he landed, forcing them to dodge out of the way. Fumetsu then quickly launched himself against Devina and delivered a jump-kick to her chest that pushed her backwards, and it was instantly followed by a quick kick to her face.

Tyroth didn't have time to fully react to how Devina fell to the floor, before Fumetsu had dashed over to him and slashed like crazy at him. The dragon had to work his hardest to be able to block the flurry of slashes and stabs with his sword. But as suddenly as the attacks came, they stopped, only for Fumetsu to start spinning around very quickly with his arms extended, almost like a tornado with blades, which he changed the angle of, slashing high and low.

Sparks flew aplenty as Fumetsu's blades struck Tyroth's as a buzz-saw, and he could just barely block them. After a few agonizingly long seconds, Fumetsu stopped spinning around, and Tyroth to the opportunity to attack, swinging his mighty blade at his foe. But the strange foe jumped over both the attack and the dragon, landing behind him and beginning his attacks again, still with his back turned at the dragon.

Only thanks to his fast reflexes was Tyroth able to spin around and parry the new flurry of attacks. Tyroth was shocked by Fumetsu's speed, not to mention that he was able to fight with his back turned against his target. Whoever, or whatever, he was, one thing was clear, he was a far bigger threat than he had initially seemed like.

By that time, Devina had managed to pick herself up off the ground after Fumetsu's first attacks, she was till slightly groggy, but she shook that off and lunged at Fumetsu, slashing her claws at him. Yet he stopped his attacks against Tyroth and quickly ducked under Devina's attack, then jumped up and hit them both with a split-kick, landing some twenty feet away afterwards.

"Ohohohohoh!" he laughed, and had it not been in a battle to the death, his laughter could very well have come from happiness, but as it was, his jolly disposition was only creepy.

Covering herself with her swirling shadow, Devina shifted to her human form, as she deemed her melee attacks ineffective and decided to switch to her spells instead. Cold mist formed in and around her hands, crackling and concentrating as she prepared an ice assault. Once ready, she unleashed a barrage of giant icicles.

As the frozen projectiles sped towards Fumetsu, he jumped towards them, spinning and turning his body, passing through the barrage without as much as a scratch. Devina saw this, and as it happened, she shot another ice attack that he wouldn't have the time to avoid in any way. But as Fumetsu landed after his impressive dodging, with the last icicle right in front of him, he quickly extended both his arms in front of him just as it was about to hit him, but instead he caught it in his left sleeve, only for it to exit through his right a split second later, flying back at Devina.

Taken completely by surprise, she would have been impaled if Tyroth hadn't been able to intervene, slashing down the projectile with his sword less than a few feet away from his friend. Turning back to Fumetsu, Tyroth saw him withdraw his twin katana into his sleeves and dashed towards the duo. Fumetsu jumped high up in the air and reared back his right arm, and as he was heading down, Tyroth and Devina saw the flash of a metal blade in the sleeve.

Jumping away in the nick of time, they saw how the two foot long blade of a naginata cut into the concrete, the entire eight foot long pole having come out of Fumetsu's sleeve like it was nothing. As soon as he landed, Fumetsu quickly pulled his weapon free and began slashing, stabbing and swiping it against Tyroth and Devina, with expertly executed moves.

It was with very small margins that the duo was able to avoid the attacks, but not without getting several cuts from the near misses. Tyroth tried to counter with his firebreath, only for Fumetsu to jump away, spinning his naginata in front of him to shield himself from the flames with the wind generated from it.

As Fumetsu landed, he withdrew his weapon, the naginata disappearing completely inside the sleeve of his robes.

"Not bad, not bad at all, you truly are a king among beasts, so noble and considerate of your allies. But how will you handle this?" Fumetsu said, reaching into his sleeve and with lighting speed threw a dart of some sort at Devina.

The projectile moved so fast that Devina didn't have a chance to avoid it outside of her beast form. But the dart was blocked when Tyroth threw himself in front of her, the dart digging into his chest, but not doing any major damage. Having learned from previous fights, Tyroth quickly pulled out the dart and held it in his clenched fist.

"You will have to try better than that!" he snarled at his foe. "You're not getting my blood! Not this time!"

"Ah, but no, I am not after your blood, my dear dragon, in fact, my goal has already been accomplished."

Fumetsu's words struck Tyroth as both confusing and worrying, but as he thought of it, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, quickly spreading to the rest of his body. He found it hard to breath and his strength left him while his vision started to fade to darkness. Fear gripping him, he collapsed and lay unmoving on the roof.

"Tyroth?!" Devina screamed and hurried to her friend's side.

"And so, the mighty falls. You better work quickly if you wish to save him." Fumetsu said. Still with a happy tone to his voice. "Ta-ta for now."

Fumetsu then jumped of the side of the building, but Devina didn't even try to pursue him, she couldn't leave her friend. Her hands glowed with a warm light that spread to Tyroth's body as she tried to heal him with her magic, but to her horror, it had no effect on him.

"What? No! Please work!"

Using her life detecting vampire vision, she could see that Tyroth was still alive, but his glow was very weak. She continued to try and use her healing magic, but to no avail. There was nothing she could do.

"Oh no… no no no no… what do I do… what do I do?!" Devina was starting to panic, then she remembered. "The shell-cell! The emergency button!"

Fumbling around for a few seconds, still not being very familiar with modern devices, she managed to activate the beacon. It was with tears in her eyes that she pressed the button.

"Sephie… I'm so sorry…"

 **Hell be damned! That guy just took down Tyroth! And what was the deal with him anyway, with his strange skills?**

 **Check back to learn the fate of the fallen dragon.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Fallen Dragon**

Sephie and Amber left the last of several abandoned buildings they had checked for the rumoured cartel that Hugh had been tipped about, yet they had had no luck.

"That's, what, fifteen buildings now, and still no sign of any criminals." said Amber. "None at all, not even the petty kinds like pickpockets and purse snatchers."

"Yeah, seems like they're all keeping a low profile, and with how active we've been, that's not surprising." said Sephie. "But that also worries me, we should have found at least some form of clue to this cartel if they were in this area."

"Maybe they're not here then, the others might have found something, and even if the haven't, we should let them know."

"You're right, I'll call them and we'll see what we do next."

But just as Sephie reached for her shell-cell, both it and Amber's started bleeping. The two lizards were completely taken by surprise by the emergency signal, but soon recovered and quickly checked who it was from.

"It's from Devina." Amber said. "But she's with..."

"Tyroth! Oh no, something bad must have happened!" Sephie remembered back when Tyroth was ambushed and captured by the Foot, and while the Foot most likely wasn't behind whatever had happened this time, she couldn't help but feel that same fear again. "We must hurry!"

"Sephie! Wait up!" Amber called out as the gecko took off across the rooftops, but she didn't listen, forcing the marine iguana to follow as fast as she could to not be left behind.

And the girls weren't the only ones worried, the rest of the Chicago Knights had also received Devina's call for help, but unlike Sephie, they didn't even consider that it could be Tyroth that was in the most danger.

* * *

As Sephie and Amber dashed across the rooftops, Percy and Heather caught up with them and kept by their side as the quartet hurried onward. As they reached the southernmost area, they saw the rest of the team on a rooftop, including Devina, who looked very sad and upset, and Tyroth, who lay motionless on the rooftop. Seeing her lover in that state, Sephie was horrified.

"NO! TYROTH!" she screamed as she hurried to his side and dropped to her knees next to him, crying as he didn't respond to neither her touch nor her words. "Honey… please wake up… don't… don't do this… not again..."

Amber was at a loss, paralysed by memories of when her brother had been shot through the chest shortly after they had met each other again since his apparent death, she just stood and looked in shock at Tyroth as Sephie tried to wake him.

Jack looked around at the Chicago Knights, they were all confused, upset and shocked, some more than other, and with good reason. Their leader, and the strongest of them, had fallen in battle, something that was very rare. But Jack knew what he had to do, he was second in command, and while he hurt as much as the rest of them, he couldn't afford it to hinder him, he had to take care of his team, his friends, his family.

"Heather!" he barked to gain the dragonfly's attention, and she looked at him confused. "Pull yourself together and help Amber, she's in shock."

As harsh as Jack had initially seemed, Heather quickly realised that he needed to get them focused, and she knew that he didn't want to be rude or anything, and it had worked. She forced herself to focus on helping those more in need of help, such as Amber, who she hurried over to.

While Heather took care of the marine iguana, Jack continued to issue directives to the others.

"Sarah, help Sephie! Kate, check if Devina needs aid! Percy, Sharky, we need to get Tyroth back to Mutopia for medical aid! Help me carry him back!"

After a short time of almost fumbling around, the team managed to get their act together, and began the long and slow journey back home through the sewers. It was a march in silence, no-one said anything, not even the normally joking Percy as even his mood was low.

The guys carried the dragon, aided by Kate and Devina, as the vampire/werewolf deemed herself well enough to help, and she felt that she owed Tyroth that much at least.

Sarah and Heather helped Sephie and Amber along respectively, as neither of the lizards were in any condition to take care of themselves. It hadn't been easy to pry Sephie from her lover, as she outright refused to let go of him, but reluctantly did as she hindered the others from helping him. All the way back to Mutopia, she did nothing but cry, her heart aching greatly from seeing her beloved injured.

* * *

Once they reached their home, the inhabitants were as shocked as the team was. Upset and distressed, more so than when the team had rescued Tyroth after his battle against the demon lord, Xazahl.

"Uncle Tyroth! No! Uncle Tyroth!" Sonia screamed when she saw her adoptive uncle, her colour shifting to dark blue. She tried to run over to him, but old George held her back with a firm grip on her shoulder.

"Sonia, please, we have to give them room!" he said, just as worried as anyone else. "Everyone, clear a path to the medical room! Let them through!"

The knights hurried to the medical room, meeting up with the resident doctor, James the chimpanzee, on the way.

"Quickly, lay him on the bed." James directed the others, preparing his equipment. "What happened?"

"He… he was struck with some kind of dart… took a blow for me..." said Devina.

"Do you still have the dart?" James asked and Devina nodded, having kept it in case they needed it. "Good, that might hold some answers about this."

"What the hell could be in it if it could take down Tyroth this easily?" Jack asked.

"And why hasn't he healed yet? He's damn near immune to everything." said Sharky.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out. Now please leave, this shouldn't take too long."

* * *

Half an hour went by, the Knights having waited all that time outside the medical room, but not hearing any news, and that had them worried. Amber sat on a bench, her arm around Sephie, holding her close to comfort the gecko, though she was just as upset herself.

The doors opened, and James stepped out, his face telling them that it was bad news.

"How bad is it?" asked Jack.

"Worse than I thought… much worse..." the chimpanzee said with a heavy heart. "I'm afraid… that I can't do anything for him..."

"That can't be true! We got the well, it can heal anything! Have you even thought about it?!" Sephie snapped, tears in her eyes.

"Sephie, calm down." Amber said. "I'm sure James has a reason."

"I wish I did, but the truth is that I already have tried the with the water of the well, and it has had no visible effect on him."

"Wait, what?! No effect?! How is that even possible? It gave me my arm back." said Sharky.

"How, I don't know, but nothing I've tried have worked. Whatever was in that dart, whatever kind of poison it is, it is unlike anything I have ever seen. As it is now, Tyroth has fallen into a form of coma caused by the poison and he seem to get worse by the minute. I have given him a drip with healing water, I'm hoping that it will do something for him."

"So what are we supposed to do then?" asked Heather.

"I am a doctor, and while we have all seen that magic do exist, as a doctor I can't afford to believe in such things, but in medicine and science, when treating my patients. And I think we need someone that has a greater scientific expertise than me to aid our friend."

"Like Donatello!" said Amber, a glimmer of hope sparking inside. "Back when I was partially mutated by the Foot, he thought he could work something out that would have made me human again."

"Then we need to get in touch with him ASAP, it will take time for them to get here, especially now that the Ninjet ain't available to us." said Jack.

"Talk about bad timing for an overhaul." said Percy.

"Please… can any of you call Donnie… I… I want to be near Tyroth..." said Sephie, looking with at the doors to the medical room, her eyes still filled with tears.

"It's alright, Sephie. I will call him, you stay with your mate." said Amber. But as Sephie followed James to Tyroth's bed, Amber spoke in a low voice to the others. "Keep an eye on her, guys, she is very fragile right now."

"Do not worry, we will take care of her." said Heather.

With that out of the way, Amber made her way to her room, so she could make the call in private. But as she closed the door behind her and picked up her shell-cell, she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She was almost as torn up as Sephie about Tyroth, and had only held it together for as long as she had because she needed to be strong for Sephie's sake. She cried as she dialed Donatello's number, tears falling on the display.

 **The team, and the entire village of Mutopia, is very upset, as you can imagine. And with not even the well's magic healing water capable to help the mighty dragon, what hope does he have?**

 **That is for you to wonder, and me to write. See you next time. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Bad News**

In the lair of the turtles in New York, there was a much happier atmosphere than in Mutopia, and that was to be expected, as they had no idea of what had transpired, and Michelangelo was playing with his little niece, Pandora. She was sitting on his shoulders, with her uncle holding her hands as he ran around making air-plane noises, while Pandora laughed and giggle of all her heart.

The rest of the reptile mutants stood and watched with warm smiles, all happy for the little two year old mutant girl.

"Pandora and Mikey really get along great, don't they?" said Leonardo.

"They do, and it feels good to know that we have someone that can babysit if Raph and I need some alone-time." said Monalisa.

"Yeah, but who's babysitting who?" asked Raphael with a smirk. "As long as Pandora keeps check on Mikey, he won't get into any trouble."

"That's one way of seeing it." said Donatello.

"You know, guys. I think she might be old enough for a longer trip than to the farmhouse." said Monalisa.

"Longer? How long? Oh, you mean to Mutopia. Yeah, I think our little girl might be big enough for that." said Raphael.

"It's a very long journey there, at least if we take the Battle-shell, I hope she can handle that." said Leonardo.

"I think she will be fine, she can sleep most of the time, and with a few stops in the more secluded areas, I don't think there will be any problems. We will need some help from April and Casey though, but I can't imagine they will have anything against that." said Donatello.

"I'm sure they will help, they want to visit our friends just as much as we do. It's such a shame that we haven't been able to for these last years." said Monalisa.

"Yeah, it's been quite a while, that's for sure, but that will change soon." said Raphael. "And at least they have been able to come here every now and then."

"That's true. I still remember when Tyroth and Sephie came by the first time after Pandora was born, not long after she had learned to speak a little." said Monalisa.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Monalisa walked out of the playroom holding Pandora close to her, Tyroth and Sephie were waiting and Sephie couldn't help but gush as she saw the tiny mutant child in Monalisa's arms._

 _"Pandora..." Monalisa whispered to the little mutant who had her face buried in her neck "Say hello to Uncle Tyroth and Auntie Sephie."_

 _Pandora slowly moved her head to look at the Dragon and Gecko, and her eyes went wide with curiosity at the sight of them._

 _"Hello pretty girl!" Sephie smiled._

 _"You are a cute little thing!" Tyroth said reaching his large hand over to tickle Pandora under her chin._

 _Pandora stared at Tyroth for a while, Monalisa was a little worried her daughter would be scared by Tyroth's appearance due to how large and almost threatening he looked, even though now he looked like he wouldn't hurt a fly._

 _To her surprise, Pandora giggled as she felt Tyroth tickle her then reached her arms towards him._

 _"Dino..." she said quietly "Dino!"_

 _"Well...what d'ya know!" said Sephie with a grin as she looked towards her lover "She likes you!"_

 _Tyroth then reached his large hands out as Monalisa handed Pandora to him._

 _"Careful..." said Monalisa as Tyroth took Pandora who giggled and gurgled more at him._

 _"Dino! Dino!" Pandora squealed "Big Dino!"_

 _ **End Flashback**_

"It was so adorable how she reacted to Tyroth, every time I think of it I get all gushy." Monalisa continued.

"She really took a liking to him, maybe even more so than she did with Mikey. It kinda makes me feel left out sometimes." said Raphael.

"There is no need to worry, Raph." said Leonardo. "She's your daughter, and we all know that she loves you and Mona beyond words."

"Wonder if she remember Sonia, but she should, it wasn't that long ago she came with Tyroth and Sephie for a visit." said Donatello.

"That was a fun time, a shame that they couldn't stay longer that time." said Monalisa.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Sonia's eyes went wide with amazement as she followed Tyroth and Sephie into the lair of the New York mutants, holding the former's hand, her color a golden bright yellow._

" _Welcome to our home, my young friends." Splinter said. "And hello again, young Sonia. You have grown quite a lot since last we met."_

" _Um.. thank you, master Splinter." Sonia said shyly, but didn't try to hide as she had the first time she had met the new mutants._

" _She has been so excited about coming here, and the flight here." said Sephie._

" _And she's not the only one. I just hope that the Foot stays quiet for our stay here." said Tyroth._

" _They shouldn't be any problem, whenever you show up, they tend to keep a low profile." said Leonardo, as he, his brothers and Monalisa came over to the visitors, Monalisa carrying the young Pandora, who rested her head against her mother's neck._

" _Glad you could make it, guys." said Donatello. "And we're really happy that you could bring Sonia with you."_

" _And there's someone that we think she will like to meet." said Raphael._

" _Pandora..." Monalisa said softly. "Your Uncle Tyroth and Auntie Sephie are here again, and they brought a new guest with them."_

 _With curiosity in her eyes, the little mutant carefully looked up and spotted the chameleon girl._

" _That is your cousin, Sonia. Say hello to her." Monalisa continued._

"… _hi… s… s… so… yaa..." she said shyly, having trouble to pronounce the, for her, difficult name._

"… _hi Pandora." Sonia said, almost just as shyly, but with a smile on her face._

" _Awe, isn't this just adorable." said Michelangelo. "It's almost as if they're competing in shyness."_

" _Don't disturb them, Mikey." Raphael said and gave his little brother a light whack on the head. Seeing this, the two young girls giggled, and Pandora even went one step further._

" _Mikey!" she said, still giggling._

" _Well, seems like she's learned that early." Sephie said with a smirk._

 _Sonia let go of Tyroth's hand, and walked over to Monalisa and Pandora, her color more green now._

" _Um… can I hold Pandora? Please?" she asked._

" _Of course you can. Just be gentle." said Monalisa and got down on one knee, gently handing Pandora to Sonia. "Careful now..."_

 _Pandora was a little heavier than Sonia had thought, but she still held her adoptive cousin close and secure._

" _Hi, Pandora."_

" _Hi, so...ya.." Pandora said, and put her tiny arms around Sonia's neck, hugging her, and Sonia returned the hug, making all of the adults gush over them._

 _ **End Flashback**_

"Sonia and Pandora sure bonded fast. I'm sure that they will really close friends for life, despite their difference in age." said Leonardo.

"Indeed, and with such bright lights in our lives, there is hope for the future." said Splinter.

"If only they could play together more often." said Monalisa.

Suddenly, Donatello's shell-cell started buzzing as someone was calling him. Looking at the display, he saw the name 'Amber'.

"Hello, Donatello speaking." he answered.

"Donnie..."

"Hey, Amber, what can I do for you?"

"I… we need your help… please, you must come to Mutopia as fast as possible..." she said, occasionally sobbing. Donatello got a worried expression on his face, and the others knew that something was wrong.

"Slow down, Amber, what happened?" he said.

"It's… it's Tyroth… he's badly hurt… and we can't save him without your help… please… I can't loose my brother… not again…" The tears that Amber had tried to contain while talking couldn't be held back any longer, and Donatello could hear her cry.

"Calm down, we'll help you, I promise. When is the Ninjet coming to pick us up?"

"… it isn't… it's hauled off for service..." she said between sobs.

"Uh-oh… We… we'll get there as soon as we can, don't worry."

"Thank you…" Amber said, and they ended the call.

"What is the matter, my son?" Splinter asked.

"… Tyroth's… Tyroth's been injured… beyond anything they can heal..." Donatello said, still trying to process everything.

"What?!" the others exclaimed, even Michelangelo and Pandora heard the news and stopped playing.

"Whoa! What's that you said?" Michelangelo said.

"Is… is Uncle Tyroth… sick?" Pandora asked, her cheerfulness completely blown away.

"Everyone, please. Donatello, explain yourself." Splinter said.

"I… I truly don't know, but Amber was seriously upset, something must be wrong with Tyroth, very wrong."

"But what? The guy is practically indestructible, with his durability and insane healing-ability." said Raphael.

"That only confirms that something has happened. No-one would joke about something like this, not even Percy, and least of all Amber." said Leonardo. "And if not even the well's water can help him..."

"We got even more problems." said Donatello. "The Ninjet is out of commission, we have to get there by land, in the Battle-shell. And I need April's help too, not to mention as much medical equipment as possible, they weren't as well-equipped as us."

"I'll get in touch with April and Casey, Donnie, you gather up your stuff." said Leonardo.

"The rest of us will prepare for the journey ahead of us." said Splinter.

As the mutants started to prepare, Pandora walk over to her mother.

"Mommy?" she asked with a sad and confused voice. "Is Uncle Tyroth sick?"

"It seems so I'm afraid, little geisha." Monalisa said as she picked up Pandora and held her close. "But Uncle Donnie and Auntie April will help him, they will make him better. Come now, we have to pack your stuff."

"Are we going to Uncle Tyroth's home? Mu… mu… top… ya?"

"Mutopia, yes, yes we are, and that's a very long trip, longer than to the farmhouse, much longer."

While Pandora felt a little excited to finally travel to Mutopia, that feeling was almost completely overshadowed by the worry she felt for Tyroth, just like all the adults.

April and Casey were equally shocked and worried when they got the call from Leonardo, but they agreed to help without a second thought, and hurried to the lair to help with the preparations.

Once they were all done, they left in the Battle-shell, heading for Mutopia, Chicago. And sadly, not in the way they had hoped for.

 **A shame that all those cute memories had to be followed by such sad news. But now the New York team is on their way, let's hope that they can help.**

 **Note: The first of the two flashbacks were written by my close friend and fellow fanfiction author Bloodrayne666. She wrote it quite a while back during one of our many brainstorming sessions. Check out her other work as well, you can find both them and her among my favorites.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Medics**

It was late the night after they had left New York, that the turtles and friends arrived in Chicago. It had been a very long trip, made even longer since they had to stop and rest every now and then despite being in a hurry. Casey, having done most of the driving so that April could rest at least a little, drove inside one of the warehouses that had been provided by Sukiwara Haito, and parked the Battleshell.

"Okay, guys, we're here now." Casey said, waking those that were asleep, such as Pandora.

"Are we there, daddy?" she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Not yet, my little geisha. We still have to walk quite some way." Raphael answered.

"And we got a tonne of stuff to carry there." Michelangelo complained.

"All the greater reason to start carrying them, Mikey. We may not have much time." said Donatello. And he was right, they weren't there on a social trip, they were there to help Tyroth, as improbable as that seemed.

Luckily, they weren't that far from the entrance to Mutopia, so they didn't have to carry Donatello's equipment for long. As soon as they entered the mutant sanctuary, they immediately felt that the atmosphere was completely different from how it usually is. The tranquillity and happiness had been replaced with feelings of disheartenment and worry.

"Thank the stars that you have arrived." George the elderly turtle said as he met them at the entrance. "Tyroth is in the medical room, and the others are waiting on you just outside."

"Do you know what happened?" Leonardo asked.

"Devina has explained it to us, she was with him when… when he fell. It is probably best if you hear it from her."

A short moment later, the team arrived at the medical room, and just as George had said, the Chicago Knights were all there, aside from Sephie, who was inside the medical room. Approaching them, the New York team could see more the inside of the medical room, seeing Tyroth laying on a bed, pale and breathing slow and shallow, connected to a heart monitor and IV drip. Their hearts all sank within their chests from seeing their dear friend in such a state.

As Donatello and April started setting up the equipment together with James, Leonardo and the other approached Devina.

"Can you tell us what happened?" he asked.

Devina looked back at Tyroth, a single tear rolling down her pale cheek.

"We… we went on a search patrol, looking for criminals that Hugh had received an anonymous tip about. It was a large area, so Tyroth divided us into pairs, and I was with him. We didn't find anything, but as we were about to quit, we felt a… strange presence."

"What do you mean by that?" Monalisa asked, holding Pandora in her arms.

"I still don't know for sure, but as the mist surrounded us, we both could smell something… strange. Then, he showed up."

"The guy who took down Big T?" Raphael asked, and Devina nodded.

"I've never encountered anything like him, but he seemed to possess some form of magic. He could summon weapons from his sleeves, first a pair of swords, the same kind that Leonardo use, and then a long spear with a sword-tip."

"A naginata? From his sleeves? Was it in separate parts?" Leonardo asked.

"No, it all just came out from his sleeve, he even caught one of my ice attacks in one sleeve, and immediately sent it back through the other. And he was so fast, and strong, more than he seemed, and extremely skilled with his weapons."

"What did he look like?" Raphael asked, wanting to know who to beat up.

"Almost like some form of jester, but with a little… Japanese design to his clothes, I think. A short white robe with big, long and saggy sleeves, wooden sandals and some form of a mask, with a happy face. And the way he acted, genuinely jolly and happy… it's difficult to explain, but he was very strange. We couldn't even land a single hit on him, and near the end of the fight, he threw a dart at me, but Tyroth shielded me with his own body, then he collapsed. It is because of me that his life is in danger."

"It is not your fault, Devina. Is there anything else you can tell us?" Splinter asked.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid not… wait, there is one more thing. He did introduce himself, under the name Fumetsu Misuto."

"That is Japanese, it translates to immortal mist. Most unsettling."

"What do you suppose it means?" asked Heather.

"I do not know, but it is regardless very serious."

"Okay, we're ready to start working now." said April. "There is, however, one thing that we would need your help with, Mona."

Monalisa wasn't sure what April meant, but then she looked past the human, into the medical room, and saw Sephie still next to her mate, almost clinging on to him for dear life.

"Sephie..." Monalisa said under her breath.

"She's been like that ever since the attack." said Jack. "She doesn't want to leave Tyroth's side, even slept in there, and who can blame her."

"Anyone would want to be near their mate in this kind of situation." said Monalisa.

"But as horrible as it makes me feel, she has to leave if we are to be able to try and help Tyroth." said April. "You two are very close, so can I ask you to take care of her?"

"You needn't even ask. Someone just need to look after Pandora for me."

"Why can't I be with you, mommy?" the little mutant asked after hearing her name.

"Auntie Sephie is very upset, sweetie, and I think that she and I need to talk alone. Grown-ups have to do that sometimes."

"I don't understand, mommy."

"I know, but you will once you get older, my little geisha."

Raphael was ready to take his daughter so that Monalisa could comfort Sephie, but someone else beat him to it.

"Um… I can look after Pandora, if you let me." said Sonia, who had come to see how her uncle was doing. Monalisa could see that Sonia had cried as well, and was still very sad, but looking after Pandora might help her keep her mind of Tyroth's current state, and the two children had gotten along quite well the last time they met.

"Thank you, Sonia. Pandora, your cousin Sonia will take care of you for a while, and daddy will be nearby too, is that okay with you?"

"Yes, mommy."

"I promise that I won't be too long." Monalisa said as she carefully set down her daughter next to Sonia, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

As Sonia and Pandora walked away from the area, Monalisa entered the medical room and approached Sephie. Tears were still running down her cheeks now and then, and she had her arms around Tyroth's neck, holding his head gently as he breathed pained.

"Sephie?" Monalisa said, but there was no response. "Sephie, please, talk to me."

"…why? …why did this have to happen?"

Monalisa walked closer and placed a comforting hand on Sephie's shoulder.

"I should have been with him… I should have protected him… like he always protects me..."

"Sephie, there was nothing anyone could have done. Worst case scenario could have had you laying here instead, possibly even killed you. As harsh as it might sound, it was probably for the best that Tyroth was the one injured."

"How can you say that?!" Sephie snapped, turning to face Monalisa.

"He said so himself, back in Skyrim, with that claw trap, remember? If anyone had to get caught in such a trap, it should be him since he heals so fast, that's what he told me."

Sephie remembered that awful time in the dark caverns of Skyrim, the creatures that lived there and the traps that they had set. After reaching the surface again, and finally managing to get some proper rest, Tyroth had joined Monalisa during her watch, and while Sephie had been asleep, she briefly awoke when he and Monalisa spoke, and she remembered him saying just what Monalisa had said.

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have yelled at you… I'm just…"

"It's okay, Sephie, I understand. You love Tyroth very much, and I know how you can get when he's in danger, and I understand that you don't want to leave his side. But right now, you must if the others are to be able to help him."

It was with sad eyes that Sephie looked back at her mate, knowing that Monalisa was right, that she had to leave his side, at least for the time being. She leaned in close and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"I have to go now," she whispered softly. "but I will always be with you in heart, my love."

"James, Donnie and April are the best, they will figure something out." Monalisa said as she led Sephie out of the medical room.

* * *

Meanwhile, a short distance from the entrance to the medical room, Sonia and Pandora sat by the canal, Sonia holding Pandora close so that she wouldn't risk of falling into the water.

"Son-ya? Is uncle Tyroth going to be alright?" Pandora asked with worry in her voice.

"Of course he is, uncle Tyroth is the strongest there is." Sonia responded, trying to sound positive, but in truth, she wasn't sure at all. She had said so to keep, not only Pandora's spirit high, but her own as well.

"But he looked so sick…"

"Don't worry, Pandora. I know it looks bad, but he will be fine, the grown-ups will make sure of that."

"Son-ya? Why are you getting blue?"

Slightly confused, Sonia looked at her hands and they were turning blue, a dark blue colour very close to black. At first, she wasn't sure why, but she quickly realized. It was partially because she was both sad and worried for her uncle, but also because she felt like she was lying to Pandora, when she wasn't sure herself.

"I'm worried too, Pandora." she sighed. "I know that uncle Tyroth is going to be fine, but I'm still worried, and my skin change colour when my feelings are strong. I turn pink if I'm very happy, yellow if I'm scared or curious, and dark blue when I'm sad."

"Wow. And if you get mad?"

"I don't know, I've never been mad, but I think I will get red."

"Like daddy's mask."

"Yeah, just like your daddy's mask."

"Can you teach me to change colour? Please."

"Sorry, but changing colour like that is something only I can do."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a chameleon, a lizard that can change colour, but you're not."

"Oh, but I want to do it too." Pandora said disappointed, and Sonia did feel a bit sad for her. Then she got an idea.

"Pandora, I got a dress that's too small for me, but I think it's just the right size for you."

"A dress? For me?"

"Mmhm, and its all sparkly, in all the colours of the rainbow. It would almost look like you're changing colour in it."

"Really?!" Pandora almost squealed.

"If you want it, the I can give it to you."

"Yes, please!"

"It's in my room, let's go and get it."

"Yay!"

 **The team has arrived, and been brought up to speed by Devina, though it doesn't seem to do them much good at the moment. Poor Sephie is broken, as would be expected, but at least she has Monalisa there to help her now.**

 **I just couldn't resist having a cute little scene with Sonia and Pandora, they are just so cute together.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Results**

A gruellingly long hour passed as Donatello, April and James worked hard to restore Tyroth and wake him from his deep coma, their friends waiting outside with heavy hearts.

Then, the doors to the medical room opened, and Donatello walked out, his face betraying him.

"My son?" Splinter said.

"We've done all we can think of, and nothing has worked. This poison if beyond anything I could even have imagined."

"Then Tyroth…?" Amber began.

"He's somewhat stable right now, but with the poison still in his system, who knows for how long."

"How come the well's water doesn't work?" Leonardo asked.

"We're not sure, but I think it's because the poison is magical in nature, and as powerful as the healing power of the well is, the poison is simply too strong. As we speak, it forces Tyroth's body to produce more poison by rewriting his cells, much like a virus, using his own reserves to slowly kill him. The water is the only thing keeping him alive by healing him, but it can't purge him of the poison, and with the amount of poison increasing, it's only a matter of time."

"There must be something we can do to help the big guy." said Raphael. "What about a blood transfusion? Flush his systems."

"I wish we could do that, but the new blood would only get infected as well. The only possible way to prevent that would be to completely drain him of blood before giving him new, and that would kill him as well. What we need is an antidote, and since this poison is magical..."

"Only someone with magic could create it." Heather filled in, and everyone looked at Devina.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do it, but Divines know that I want to." she said. "My magic is limited to the spells that I have studied, I just can't shape it the way we need, only… only Tyroth know how."

"Then what do we do?" Sephie asked, her eyes red from her tears, looking back at her lover in the medical room.

Suddenly, a kunai swooshed past all present, all the way into the medical room, and struck the comatose dragon in the chest, his body jerking slightly from the impact. All stared at the gruesome scene in total shock, then a voice behind them broke the silence.

"And now, I have made my point."

Devina instantly recognized the voice.

"That's him!" she exclaimed as she quickly turned towards the voice, followed shortly by the others. "That's the guy that attacked us!"

And she was right, the almost clown-like assailant stood only a few metres away.

"Good evening, and good bye." he said with a quick bow before turning and running towards the centre of the village.

"Get him!" Jack yelled, and everyone chased after Fumetsu, drawing their weapons.

The teams hurried after the mystery assailant as he dashed up upon one of the two bridges over the canal, but as he reached the middle of the bridge, he jumped of it on the side away from the teams.

And then, he was gone. There was not a single trace of him on the underside of the bridge, not even ripples on the crystal clear water below it. Despite how hard they searched, nothing could be found.

"Where did the bastard go?" Sephie snarled.

"No idea, and I can't even pick up his scent anywhere." said Jack. "It's like he just vanished into thin air."

"You think he's some kind of ghost?" asked Michelangelo.

"Nothing would surprise me any longer if that's the case." said Leonardo. "But it doesn't seem like we will find anything here, let's get back and check on Tyroth."

Returning to the medical room, they were met by James, who held the kunai in his hand.

"The dagger did little damage, and it healed almost instantly thanks to the water." he reported. "However, there was a note rolled around the handle, a message of some kind I think, haven't read it yet."

Taking the dagger, Leonardo removed the paper note and read it, first quietly to himself, then out aloud for the others.

'Greetings. By now you should have confirmed that nothing you can do will save the dragon, and it would be a real shame if he were to die. But there is a way to save him, an antidote, and it is in my possession. Now, I am not so unfair as to tell you about it and nothing more, I will give you a fair chance to acquire it, all you have to do is follow the clues, and here is your first.

A place in Chicago, where one who betrayed his own people, awaited your judgement.

Happy hunting.'

"Just what kind of weirdo are we dealing with? He acts as if it was a game." said Sarah.

"Unfortunately, we may have to play his game if we are to have any chance of saving Tyroth." said Leonardo.

"So, anyone know what place he mean?" asked Percy.

"I think I do." said Sephie. "The only one we know that betrayed his own people, was Raithior, when he joined us to defend against the other demons."

"Yeah, that sounds right." said Donatello. "Then the place where he awaited judgement would be..."

"The old slaughterhouse by 35th," Sephie continued. "where Tyroth guarded him while we fetched Splinter and Gramps, right after that fight with those two shapeshifting demons."

"That was not a fun fight." said Michelangelo, remembering it like yesterday.

"Then that's where we are heading." said Leonardo. "We leave in five minutes, so make sure that you're ready."

All of the ninja and Knights nodded in agreement, signalling that they were all coming along, and so was someone else.

"I'm coming too." said Casey, much to the others shock.

"No way, Casey, this is beyond you." said Raphael.

"Look, guys, Tyroth's my friend too, and I can't just sit around here unable to help. And if this guy could take down Tyroth, you will need all the help you can get."

"He's got a point." said Sharky. "Strength in numbers and all."

"I don't like it, but Casey has proven that he can keep up with us, so I will allow it." said Leonardo. "Just be careful, and that goes for all of us, we have no idea of what this Fumetsu Misuto is capable of. Remember, we meet at the exit in five minutes."

Everyone quickly left to make sure that they had all they needed, though Monalisa and Raphael had another task in mind, and walked over to Splinter.

"Master, have you seen Pandora?" Raphael asked.

"I have, my son. She and miss Sonia have been playing together in Sonia's room since you left Pandora in her care." the old rat said.

"That's good to hear, that they are getting along so well, and that she's safe." said Monalisa.

"You need not worry, my daughter, I will look after Pandora while you are away. Just promise me that you will be careful."

"We will, master." said Raphael.

"Raph! Mona! Time to go." Michelangelo called out as he passed by on his way to the exit.

With everyone ready, they all left for the old slaughter house, all fifteen of them.

Sephie the Gecko, Amber the Marine Iguana, Jack the Wolf, Percy the Grasshopper, Sharky the Shark, Kate the Viper, Sarah the Cheetah, Heather the Dragonfly, Monalisa the Lizard, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael the Turtles, Devina the Werewolf-Vampire and Casey Jones.

 **Sadly, not even Donnie and April were able to help the poor dragon. And to add insult to injury, Fumetsu made a brief appearance.**

 **But just what is he? Got any ideas?**

 **Next time, the large team head out on a hunt, let's hope that they find their prey.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey all, and sorry for the wait. I've had a lot going on, in many ways, but I haven't forgotten about you or this story. In fact, after the next chapter, you will get a special treat on my Deviantart page. Be sure to check it out when it's uploaded.**

 **Chapter 8**

 **The Search**

Running through the sewers of Chicago, the group of fifteen made their way towards the old slaughterhouse to search for the second clue that the mysterious Fumetsu Misuto had left them. None of them found his 'game' the least entertaining, not when Tyroth's life was at stake, but they had to play along to acquire the antidote they so badly needed.

However, there was one thing that kept gnawing at their minds; how Fumetsu managed to enter Mutopia and then just vanish without a trace. Hacker had sent them a text as they were on their way, explaining that he had gone over all the security cameras of the entrances, all the footage, and there wasn't even a single frame of the mysterious assailant. No one was sure what to think about it, and Fumetsu seemed even more mysterious than before.

Finally reaching the ladder up to the slaughterhouse, Leonardo climbed up first, carefully lifting the lid to check the surrounding. With the building seemingly empty, he removed the lid and climbed up, letting the others follow.

"If my guess is right, the next clue must be here somewhere." said Sephie as she and the rest started searching every nook and cranny of the abandoned building.

"Doesn't look like anyone's been here since we picked up Raithior." said Raphael. "The dust hasn't been disturbed."

"True, but this Fumetsu doesn't seem to leave any kind of tracks behind, other than those he means to leave." said Donatello.

"Not even his scent. Otherwise it would have been easy to find him." Jack filled in.

Monalisa walked past the rows of hooks on chains hanging from the ceiling, when her gut feeling told her that something was amiss, yet she could figure out what. Looking around, she caught a glimpse of something above her. Brushing some of her hair aside, she looked up at the rail that all the chains hung from.

"Hey, I think I found something." she said, only to start climbing up one of the chains. She easily reached the roof and inspected the rail, finding what had caught her eye. A small piece of paper, hidden in the grove of the rail.

Dropping down to the floor, and the hopeful group, she unfolded the paper.

"This is it!"

'So you have found the first clue, I congratulate you, but you still have a way to go. For the next, you have to aim high, all the way to the top of Searing stars above.'

"What does that mean?" asked Casey. "Searing stars? Do we need a spaceship for this or something?"

"I think there is something hidden in the clue." said Monalisa. "If you look here, he has spelt 'searing' with a capital S, and I don't think it's a typo."

"I agree with Mona. The guy seems too crafty and cunning to make a simple typo, it has to mean something." said Sarah.

"Must be something high up, like a tower or a skyscraper." Donatello mused. "Does it ring any bells with you Mutopians? This is your home turf after all."

"Now that you mention it, I think I might have an idea." said Sharky. "The Willis Tower, near the Quincy and Wells Metro-station, it's the tallest building in all of Chicago, and get this, it was renamed the Willis Tower not that many years ago, before that it was called the Sears Tower."

"That has to be the place, it can't be a coincident. Let's hit the rooftops and go from there." said Leonardo.

* * *

After a quick detour through the sewers, the group climbed up to the top of a nearby building and made their way across the rooftops, and as they did, they could see the skyscraper off in the distance, and it was a tall one.

"Wow, how tall is it anyway?" Michelangelo asked.

"Almost 1500 feet, the view from the skydeck is incredible." said Amber.

"Any ideas where the next clue might be, I mean, this place is huge." said Jack.

"The clue stated that we had to aim high, what if we actually have to get to the top of the skyscraper as well?" said Monalisa.

"All the way up there? How are we gonna get there in anything less than half an hour?" asked Percy.

"I can fly to the top and search for it." Heather offered.

"You sure? The winds up there can be brutal." said Leonardo. "Both in strength and cold temperatures."

"I know, but we are short on time, I have to do this." Heather responded and took off, flying upward as fast as she could.

"Be careful!"

As Heather got higher up, the winds did indeed become stronger, and as she passed three quarters of the tower, she had some difficulties. One gust of wind almost knocked her off course, but she was able to correct herself.

Finally reaching the very top of the tower, she landed among the big masts and took a moment to catch her breath. But she couldn't stay up there for very long, time was of the essence, and the winds were indeed colder than she would have liked, so she had to be quick.

Looking around in all directions, including upward, she did spot something at the very top of one of the masts. Flying up to take a closer look, she saw that it was indeed something tied to the top.

A piece of paper, tightly secured to the tip of the mast with several strings. It wasn't easy to retrieve it, the knots were difficult to untie while flying in the winds, but after a few minutes, Heather managed to free the note.

Only for a strong gust to pull it out of her hand.

"Oh no!" she gasped and hurried after the small piece of paper as it was carried away on the winds. She flew as fast as she could, missing the note several times as it moved erratically. Only by focusing and feeling the winds, trying to predict where they would blow, was she able to catch the note.

"That was too close." Heather sighed in relief, holding the note in a strong grip as she began her decent to the others.

"You okay?" Raphael asked after Heather had landed.

"Yes, I am fine, just a little tired and slightly cold. I almost lost the clue though." she responded, handing the paper to Leonardo.

"We figured something was wrong when we saw you fly around like crazy up there." said Percy.

"You're sure that you're okay?" Sarah asked.

"Do not worry about me, I will get warm again once we start moving again, just need to catch my breath for a minute first."

"Seems like we might have a long way to go this time." said Leonardo after having read the clue, and read it again for the others.

'After having searched high, you must now search low. Go to where two lovers faced a new dawn, dancing upon the sands of time.'

Hearing that, Sephie's eyes widened.

"I know where that is." she said.

"You do?" Monalisa asked.

"Remember way back, right before the demons tried to invade our world, when I told you about the first time Tyroth and I went flying together."

"Yeah, that sounded so romantic, how he comforted you and all."

"That's right, but I didn't tell you what happened next. We landed on a small island, very close to the mainland, and we could hear music playing from a cruise liner that was anchored not too far away. The soft music, us alone on that tiny island, the clear sky with the moon and stars. Tyroth asked me to dance, and we did, all night, only once the party on the ship ended at dawn, did we return home."

"Oh gosh, he really is the romantic sort." said Monalisa, gushing slightly over the lovely memory Sephie had shared with them.

"No wonder you two were gone so long." said Jack. "I'm assuming that you know your way back there."

"I would never forget that place, not after all that Tyroth has done for me. It takes at least half an hour to get to the coast and then another couple of minutes to the island, if you're flying that is."

"Then we'd better hurry." said Donatello.

* * *

It took nearly an hour for the group to reach the coastline, with the buildings becoming increasingly lower and further apart, forcing the team to take move through the sewers to avoid being seen, and to allow Casey to keep up.

"Sorry that I'm slowing you guys down." he apologized.

"Don't sweat it, dude." said Michelangelo. "You're doing great, for a normal human."

"Is that the island you spoke of out there?" Devina asked Sephie, pointing at a tiny speck of land a couple of miles out.

"Yes. that's it. Now all we have to to is get out there."

"Meaning that we have to swim if we can't fly." said Percy.

"Let me handle that, water is my element after all." said Sharky.

"Will the clue survive the trip back? Paper and water don't exactly mix." said Raphael.

"I wouldn't worry about that." said Donatello. "Fumetsu wants us to be able to find the clues, and out there, it would be exposed to water either way. I'm willing to bet that he has put it in a watertight container of some sort."

"Well, wish me luck." said Sharky, and jumped into the water, taking off at an amazing speed.

"Man, look at him go!" said Michelangelo. "And I thought we turtles were fast in water!"

It didn't take too long for Sharky to reach the tiny island, though it wasn't much more than a tip of the seafloor reaching above the surface. Still, it had about the same area as a basketball court, numerous rocks of varying sizes littering most of it.

"Okay, if I were a psychotic, ninja clown freak, hiding a clue to a sick treasure hunt game all the way out here, where would I hide it?" he thought out aloud as he shook off the water.

But as he was about to start lifting smaller rocks, his foot got caught on something in the sand and he tripped, falling face first.

"Ugh…. If that was a fishnet, the others will laugh so hard..." he groaned as he wiped the sand from his face. Then he looked back at what he had tripped on, and was surprised that it was a metal cable of some sort, far too thick to be any kind of fishing equipment.

Pulling on it, one of the ends came loose from the sand, and at that end was a metal canister, about a foot long and two inches wide.

"Well that's odd." he said, carefully opening the canister. Inside was a large, rolled up piece of paper, completely dry and unharmed of the elements. He took a quick look at it.

"This is it! The next clue! What luck!" he said, quickly rolling up the paper and placing it back in the canister, closing it tightly. But as he was bout to leave, the canister was yanked out of his hand when the cable reached its maximum length, being firmly anchored to one of the largest rocks.

"For crying out loud! Oh, sod this!" Drawing one of his tomahawk axes, he cut the cable with a swift swing, the razor edge cutting through it with ease. He then jumped back into the water and began his trip back to shore.

"Here you go." he said as he tossed the canister to Leonardo, shaking off the water afterwards. Leonardo opened it and unrolled the paper within, and was surprised of not only the size of the paper, but of the content.

'You are nearing the end of your chase now, my friends. All you have to do now is follow this map to your final destination, where you will find me, and the antidote you search.'

"A map? Not what I was expecting, but hopefully it will be easier to figure out than the clues." said Jack.

"First we have to figure out where we are on it, then we should have no trouble figuring out where to go. Just give me a few minutes." said Donatello as he started studying the map. "Let's see here… if that's… and that… then that should be… and here..."

"It's almost like you can hear the gears turning." Percy whispered to Michelangelo.

"I got it! We have to head back to Mutopia, the map starts there!"

"Seriously? Where does it go from there?" Sarah asked.

"From the looks of it, deeper into the tunnels that you guys are exploring, but I don't recognize it from any of the maps you have made."

"Not surprising, there are literally hundreds of miles of tunnels down there, and even after the hundred years that Mutopia has existed, we have not explored more than a fraction of them." said Heather.

"Either way, we'd better head back and continue from there, this might be a long journey." said Monalisa.

"I just hope that Tyroth can hold out that long." said Sephie.

* * *

It took the group quite a while to get back to Mutopia, and they had to just pass through it, much to the inhabitants' aggravation, since they were all worried about the dragon. The team wasn't any happier about it themselves, but they had to keep moving.

Entering the deep tunnels, they followed the map to parts unknown. For over an hour they ventured deeper and deeper into the dark, with their flashlights as their only source of light. As they continued, they were happily surprised that the map seemed to be very accurate, not missing a single turn or fork. And as they neared the end of the map, they did spot something in front of them.

Light. At the end of the tunnel there was light. Not knowing what awaited them, they all drew their weapons, turned off their flashlights, and silently made their way to the light-source.

Exiting the tunnel, the team found themselves in a cavern more than twice the size of Mutopia, completely lit up by some unknown source. There was no form of plants or fungi, nor were there any crystals that illuminated the area, and there definitively weren't any electronic light-sources.

Standing in the middle of the great cavern, was Fumetsu Misuto, unarmed. Seeing the team enter, he gave them a bow before speaking with his jolly tone.

"Greetings, freedom fighters. And well done getting here so quickly, I must admit that I am impressed. I do hope that your journey wasn't too hard, but the weather seemed rather lovely for this time of the year so-"

Sephie had had enough, and interrupted the mysterious man by drawing and releasing an arrow in the blink of an eye, aiming for his head.

But to everyone's shock, Fumetsu effortlessly caught the tip of the arrow with his thumb and index finger, stopping it half a foot from his face like it was nothing. Examining the arrow for a brief moment, he tossed it aside.

"It seems like someone is in a hurry, and while it is rude to interrupt, you are on a tight schedule. This is how things will work, I have an electronic key in my possession, defeat me and it's yours. It opens a strongbox in the far back of the cave, which holds the antidote. If you try to open it without the correct key, however, the antidote will be destroyed, and any chance of saving the dragon will be but a hopeful dream."

The team steeled themselves, it was obvious that Fumetsu wasn't a normal foe, but they had no other choice, they had to win.

"Well then, shall we dance?" Fumetsu asked, motioning for them to attack.

 **They've finally caught up with the enemy, and now a massive fifteen-against-one fight is about to start.**

 **But will that be enough?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Full-scale Assault**

With their weapons drawn, the fifteen vigilantes all rushed towards the mysterious Fumetsu Misuto. But he himself didn't seem to care, not until they were right on top of him did he move.

Stepping backwards just enough to avoid Leonardo's slashes, Fumetsu prepared his counter attack. At the very instant that he took the step backwards, two weapons fell from his large sleeves, a katana from his right and a four-foot wooden staff with metal caps covering each end from his left, catching both without any problem.

Once he had cleared Leonardo's attack, he swung his staff quick as a flash and hit the turtle across the face, all while using his katana to parry an attack from Jack's scimitar from the right. Parrying a few more of Jack's attacks, Fumetsu kept moving backwards to avoid getting hit from the onslaught from the others. Twirling his staff, he blocked attacks from Michelangelo, Sarah and Donatello, as they tried to flank him from his left, all while Amber and Heather joined Jack on the right.

Kicking Sarah in her stomach, and forcing her back, Fumetsu did a quick spin and managed to disarm both Jack and Amber. Before he came full circle, he delivered a roundhouse kick to Donatello's head, knocking him to the ground, and quickly began parrying and blocking again once he stopped. Counter attacking with a quick slash of his katana, Heather received a nasty looking cut across her face and dropped her two katar as she instinctively held her wound in pain.

With an opening, Fumetsu jumped backwards, gaining some breathing room, and switching his weapons in the process, both of them going back inside his sleeves. A pair of kama instead appeared, which he instantly began fighting with, using the sickle blades to catch Raphael's sai as the turtle tried to stab him. The two traded blows for a few seconds, after which Sharky joined in with his twin tomahawks, yet Fumetsu countered the shark's attacks in a similar fashion.

A quick twist of one of his kama allowed Fumetsu to use it as a hook, which was used to properly grapple one of Sharky's axes. As the mutant tried to untangle his weapon, Fumetsu gave it a strong tug and jumped, causing Sharky to crash into Raphael as their foe avoided both of them, only to receive a split kick to their faces the second after, when Fumetsu came back down, knocking them both to the ground.

Sarah had recovered from the kick to her stomach, and joined Casey, Michelangelo and Kate, as they pressed their attack. Fumetsu quickly switched one kama for a metal tonfa of his own, engaging with the group of four. A swift swing with his kama caught both of Michelangelo's nunchaku, pulling them out of his hands, and before the young turtle could react, he got hit in the face by the tonfa, like it was a punch.

Immediately after the hit had connected, Fumetsu pulled back his arm and blocked several fast blows from Sarah, and countered with a jab to her stomach again, followed by a blow to the side of her head. As both Michelangelo and Sarah fell to the ground beaten, Casey swung his aluminium baseball bat and golf-club like crazy, while Kate unleashed a fury of strikes with her whip. Yet, Fumetsu used his tonfa to strike back every one of Kate's attacks, all while only sidestepping Casey's, acting as he wasn't really a threat.

Sephie ran straight at Fumetsu, dragon-tooth daggers in hand and her eyes filled with rage. Seeing this, Fumetsu quickly jumped past Casey, delivering a blow to the back of his head with the shaft of the kama, instantly knocking him out. Withdrawing his weapons, two new appeared from his sleeves, a sai, larger than Raphael's and with sharper prongs, in his left hand, and a metal ball the size of a fist on the end of a long, thin chain, a meteor hammer, in his right.

Using the sai, he perfectly countered every blow from Sephie, seeing right through any of her feints and deflecting the razor-sharp blades. At the same time, he used the meteor hammer to strike back at Kate, wielding it with the same speed as the viper wielded her whip. Percy suddenly came out of nowhere, trying to kick Fumetsu in the head, but he simply ducked under the fast kick, bending backwards. In that action, he also steered the meteor hammer to a new target, swinging it to his right, and in its clockwise rotation, it struck Sephie hard on her temple, felling her.

Fumetsu got back up and gave Percy a kick of his own to the stomach, and as soon as the grasshopper doubled over, Fumetsu used the meteor hammer to attack Sephie again, hitting her multiple times even as she was still falling from the last blow. Turning his attention back to the still doubled over Percy, Fumetsu hit him on the back of the head with the handle of the sai, and he too fell. With a quick overhead swing of his meteor hammer, it struck the ground right in front of Kate with such force that it sent stone-shrapnel at her. Using her arms to shield her face, she unfortunately left herself open for another attack, which Fumetsu took advantage of. A quick two-hit jump-kick struck the viper in her face, knocking her out.

Landing after the kick, Fumetsu was immediately attacked by Raphael and Heather, who had both recovered from the last hit, as well as Monalisa. Dodging their first attacks, Fumetsu quickly switched his weapons again, this time to a naginata with a 2-foot long blade at the end of the eight-foot pole. Swinging, swiping and spinning it, he blocked, parried and countered all the attacks, even when Devina joined in and launched dozens of ice spears, he simply cut every single one down.

With a quick swipe with the blade at the feet of those that were close, Fumetsu forced them back a few feet, as they had to avoid getting hit. He then hit Raphael in the stomach with the staff end, followed by running the blade through the gaps in Monalisa's fans, using her own strategy against her as he twisted them out of her hands with a single motion. Heather tried to dash up to Fumetsu, but he quickly countered by turning his blade at her, forcing her to sidestep to avoid it. That put her close to Monalisa, and Fumetsu took the opportunity to attack both of them with the staff end, hitting both of them on their heads.

Seeing his mate fall, Raphael's fury boiled and he lunged at the perpetrator, but he never got very far. A quick strike with an open palm to his chest caused him to have all the air knocked out of him, and the quick karate chop to the side of his neck knocked him out as well. As the turtle fell, Devina's beast form lunged at Fumetsu, her claws just barely missing their mark as he sidestepped her. The naginata vanished into his sleeve, and instead gave him a pair of metal maces, the heads of both being shaped like a rose in bloom. While Devina continued to lash out with her claws, Fumetsu parried her attacks with his two maces, then he counter attacked, striking Devina first on her left shoulder, followed by her right wrist and knee, and finally an overhead blow to her head.

Devina fell to the ground unconscious, covered in swirling shadows as she reverted to her human form, and only a third of the party remained in fighting condition. Having already taken somewhat of a beating, they were not in their best state, while Fumetsu was still completely unharmed. Yet they did not waver, they would fight until the end if they had to.

Amber charged in, with her butterfly swords ready to cut down her foe. Leonardo and Jack were right behind her, and join the assault on Fumetsu, each one of them slashing, stabbing and striking with their blades. Donatello and Sharky also joined the fray, attacking from behind, but despite the sheer amount of attacks, Fumetsu somehow managed to parry every single one of them. It was almost as if he perceived the world in slow-motion.

Ducking under one attack, Fumetsu countered with a rising strike with his mace, hitting Sharky under his chin, knocking out a few teeth and him as well. Swinging around, he then struck Jack on his brow, and the wolf too was knocked out. With only three mutants remaining, Fumetsu wanted to change things up a bit and withdrew his two maces, changing them for yet another weapon, one of his favourites. A long and curved blade, easily three feet from the tip, with the edge on the backside, emerged from his sleeve, but as the handle became visible, it became clear that it wasn't a sword. The blade was turned inwards ninety degrees, as the handle emerged from the sleeve, revealing it to be a scythe.

Actually going on the offensive for the first time, Fumetsu swung the scythe with nearly lightning speed at the three remaining mutants, just barely missing them as they dodged the razor-sharp blade, Amber even lost a quarter of an inch from some of her hair. Jumping and spinning, the scythe wielder kept attacking again and again, never leaving any openings for counter attacks and just barely missing his marks. But, Leonardo had realized that if he had truly wanted them dead, they wouldn't had stood a chance, right now he was just playing with them, and he had been from the start.

Amber tried to find an opening, but the scythe just moved too fast. Throwing one of her blades at Fumetsu however, she made him swat it away, creating the opening she wanted. As soon as she had tossed her blade, she dashed towards the opposite side and it seemed like she would land a hit. But Fumetsu was far too fast, he easily dealt with her distraction move and countered her attack as well, jabbing her in the stomach with the staff end, and following up with an overhead swing of the scythe, using the backside to knock her unconscious with a single hit to the head.

Leonardo and Donatello tried to use the opportunity to their advantage, but were met by a lighting fast swing of the scythe, forcing them to back off. Another scythe, just like the first one, appeared from Fumetsu's other sleeve, giving him two deadly weapons to dual wield, which he did with expert skill. Doing a series of quick attacks, he suddenly stopped and adjusted the angle of one of the scythes, the blades of both now facing counter clockwise. Then, he started spinning, using the same strange technique as he had against Tyroth, but with twin scythes rather than twin katana.

The two turtles could feel the strong winds generated from Fumetsu's attack as they jumped back to a safe distance. But as suddenly as it began, the spinning attack stopped, and Fumetsu threw both scythes with an overhead throw, the weapons spinning through the air far too fast for the turtles to avoid them mid-jump. The backsides of the scythes hit the two brothers on their foreheads simultaneously, knocking them out and ricocheting back towards Fumetsu, who effortlessly caught them in his sleeves, making them disappear without a trace.

Looking around, Fumetsu calmly counted his fallen foes, all fifteen of them, and felt proud. The battle had lasted little over three minutes, at most, and Fumetsu had had more fun than in a long time.

"Now that was a good fight, don't you agree?" he said, not really caring that no-one heard it. "Unfortunately, that means that you won't be able to save your precious dragon, and you were almost close too. Such a shame. Oh well, I bet that he will still be proud of your effort, even in the afterlife."

His words seemed to go unnoticed, but there was one who did hear them.

Even though she had taken a bad hit to her head, a part of Sephie heard what he had said. Bordering on the edge of unconsciousness, she was still able to take in the words, before everything went black.

* * *

It was dark around her, she lay in an empty space, feeling cold and numb, a feeling she had felt once before. When Xazahl had run her through with his blade, and her life had faded away.

"Sephie..." she heard a familiar voice say softly. Looking up, she saw her lover Tyroth standing above her, offering her his hand.

"Tyroth…? No… don't tell me..." she said, tears starting to fall as the truth began to sink in. She had failed.

Being helped up and pulled into a warm embrace, she cried.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, love… I couldn't save you… I wasn't strong enough…"

"Hush, my dear, it will be alright."

Breaking the hug, Tyroth took a step back and showed his hand, an orb of intense red energy forming in it. He then looked Sephie in the eyes and smiled.

"It is not your time yet, my love. Take my power, and live."

Giving Sephie the pulsating orb, Tyroth started to fade away.

"Tyroth! No, please! Don't leave me!" Sephie cried out, but as she reached out for her lover, her hand went straight through him as if he wasn't there. And with a final smile, he disappeared.

Falling to her knees, she cried loudly from the bottom of her heart. She was all alone.

"Tyroth…" she sobbed, clutching the energy orb tightly in her hand. "I promise… I will live on… for you… thank you… for everything…"

Holding the orb in both hands, she opened herself completely, letting all the power within it flow into her, feeling the warmth and strength of her lover.

* * *

In the cave, Sephie woke up, her body aching, but not nearly as much as her heart. Slowly, she forced herself onto all four, catching Fumetsu's attention.

"Oh? So you still have some fight left in you, my dear?" he asked.

"...shut up..." she snarled weekly, now on one knee, still rising to her feet slowly, tears rolling down her cheeks. "For what you have done… I will make you pay..."

She was battered and bruised, her clothes torn and cut in various places, and her hairtie had snapped, her hair hanging freely down her shoulders. Standing up, a red glow spread across Sephie's body. An aura of energy and power emanated from her, showering her friends, and slowly the others started to regain consciousness, though all were too groggy to be able to fight for a while. But they all saw and heard what was going on.

Sephie's wounds healed, leaving not traces of battle other than her damaged clothes. But that wasn't the only thing that happened. In front of everyone, she began to change.

The red energy around her grew stronger, acting and looking like raging flames, causing her hair to rise in the current.

Her teeth grew sharp and fang-like.

The nails on her fingers and toes grew into black claws.

A pair of horns sprouted from her head.

Scales on the tip of her tail grew into a pair of spike-like growths.

The back of her top was torn when a pair of mighty wings erupted from her pack.

She was no longer Sephie the Gecko.

She was Sephie the Dragon!

 **And you guys thought that this fight was over. Oh no, we're just moving on to the final round.**

 **And Sephie has reached a whole new level, leaving the rest of the team in her dust. You DO NOT want to miss the next chapter! Trust me!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Sephie the Dragon**

Sephie's friends watched in shock and awe as the lizard transformed into a more dragon-like form, and Fumetsu seemed to be just as shocked.

The red glow around Sephie's body faded, her hair falling down over her shoulders, and she leaped at Fumetsu, her arm pulled back for a punch.

"Die!" she yelled just before her attack connected. However, Fumetsu's quick reflexes allowed him to jump out of the way, if only barely, and Sephie punched the ground where he had just been, parts of the cave floor shattering and breaking apart.

Her eyes tracking his movement, Sephie quickly followed up her attack by breathing a torrent of flames in her foe's direction. The fire managed to lick the assailant's robes, but did little else as he kept jumping around to avoid her attacks. But Sephie wouldn't let him get away so easily, she dashed straight at him, striking with her clawed hands.

Using a pair of katana produced from his sleeves, Fumetsu parried her attacks, but they were so furiously that he had a hard time to find an opportunity to counter attack. Finding an opening, he lashed out with his swords and managed to inflict a rather nasty cut to Sephie's stomach, but the wound closed itself almost instantly, thanks to Tyroth's superior healing ability. His attack also gave Sephie the opening she needed to land a hit herself, leaving several long cuts on the torso of Fumetsu's robes.

Fumetsu broke off the engagement, and switched one of his katana for a meteor hammer, trying to utilise its range to keep Sephie at a safer distance. For a while, it seemed like the metal ball did keep her away as it was swung with lighting speed. But as they swung at Sephie, her hands were covered in red mana, which took the form of gauntlets with foot long claws, with which she cut straight through both the chain and the ball of Fumetsu's weapon.

Quickly closing the distance between them again, Sephie lashed out with her mana claws and sliced his sword apart as well. Producing a small glass flask from his sleeve, Fumetsu threw it at the ground between them, a cloud of smoke erupting from its contents, covering the immediate area. A couple of quick flaps with Sephie's new wings dispersed the smoke with ease, but Fumetsu had already retreated to a safe distance, now standing twenty feet away to her left.

With his arms extended to his sides, Fumetsu began spinning at high speed, all while releasing dozens of kunai, needles, shuriken and darts from his sleeves, all aimed at Sephie. But all his projectiles were engulfed in crimson flames as Sephie countered with her burning breath attack, the force of the flames knocking away Fumetsu's attack. Fumetsu himself had to stop his spinning attack and jump to the side to avoid getting burned to a crisp.

Landing from his dodge, Fumetsu saw that another attack from Sephie was incoming. Fire erupted and coalesced in her palms, forming two orbs of concentrated flames, both of which she threw at her foe. Seeing the two fireballs, Fumetsu dashed forward and dived between them, letting them explode against the cave wall behind him. The force of the explosion still knocked him over, but he recovered quickly and got back on his feet just in time to sidestep another attack from Sephie, as she lunged at him with a burning fist.

As Sephie and Fumetsu passed each other, one attacking and the other dodging, Fumetsu delivered a roundhouse-kick to Sephie's back, sending her to the ground. And while she quickly got back on her feet, Fumetsu had more than enough time to summon his two scythes from his sleeves and attack her, but missed, if only by an inch.

Red mana covered Sephie's body as she lunged into close combat, punching and slashing at Fumetsu while he tried to strike her down with the scythes. When it seemed as if he would hit her, she caught the blades with her hands and held them in a tight grip, the mana around her hands erupting in flames. The scorching flames turned the metal around her hands red-hot, and with a pair of twists, she snapped the scythes, tossing the remains aside and leaving Fumetsu wide open. An opening she didn't let go to waste, as she gave him a solid head-butt and actually cracked his mask.

Though the crack went from top to bottom, the mask still held together, but that wasn't of much comfort as Sephie grabbed Fumetsu by the wrists and threw him at a distant cave-wall. He impacted with a resounding smash, grunting in pain just before he slumped to the floor. Looking up, he saw Sephie collecting fire in her hands again, this time not only forming fireballs larger than before, but she slammed them together to fuse them into an even more powerful attack, an attack that she threw at him with all her might.

With no way to avoid it, Fumetsu took the full force of the attack, as the fireball exploded upon impact, engulfing a huge area in raging flames. As the fire faded, Fumetsu could be seen laying on the floor, his clothes badly burned and he barely moving. Sephie dashed over, raging flames around her right hand. Bringing her punch down, the fire took the shape of a dragon, its head around her fist.

Striking Fumetsu's head, the flaming dragon exploded into it, and when the dust settled, the head was gone, only the cauterised stump of a neck and a crater in the floor showing what had happened. But even as Fumetsu's body went completely limp, Sephie wasn't done. Dropping to both knees, she summoned the mana claws again, only this time they were set ablaze, and she started stabbing the corpse like frenzied, every hit causing it to jerk slightly until even that stopped.

But Sephie didn't stop.

Having picked herself up from the previous battle, just like the rest of the team, Amber had seen how brutal Sephie fought, and felt lucky that they hadn't gotten caught in it. But as Sephie repeatedly brutalized what remained of Fumetsu, Amber felt that it was enough, so she ran over to her.

"Sephie!" she said placing a hand on her shoulder.

The draconian gecko turned her gaze to Amber, her eyes still filled with anger.

"Please, that's enough, he's already dead."

Looking back at the severely damaged corpse, Sephie started to see clearly as her rage faded. The burning mana claws dissipated and she took deep breaths to further calm herself.

"Are you okay?" Amber asked, helping Sephie back on her feet.

"I… I think so… I don't think I got any injuries at least..."

"Doesn't look that way," said Donatello, giving her a quick look over. "but, you certainly look different."

"No kidding! She's a dragon now! How awesome is that!?" said Michelangelo. "Just how did you do that? Can all Mutopians do the same, 'cause there would be nothing able to stop you guys then."

"No, this..." Sephie began, looking at her clawed hands. "I had some sort of vision, and in it, Tyroth gave me his power. I don't know how he did it, but I know that it was him."

"Even when he's in a coma, the boss finds a way to help us. Just can't keep him out of a fight." said Jack.

"Much like back in Skyrim, when he was trapped behind that barrier, and we had to fight the ghost guardians. He managed to boost us so we could take them down." said Raphael.

Suddenly, Sephie began glowing red, leaving only her silhouette as her entire body was obscured by a layer of red mana. Her form changed, the dragon features vanishing into her form, and once the mana faded, she had reverted to her gecko form, with no evidence of her transformation, even the tears in her top that her wings made had been mended.

"That's a shame, I was starting to like your new look." said Percy.

"Me too." said Casey.

"It may not be the last time we see it, not if I know Tyroth right." said Monalisa. "He will find a way to give you that power again when needed."

"Yeah, but now I want to get back to him. I'm worried about him." said Sephie.

"Just a moment, we still need that cure." said Leonardo. Kneeling by what remained of Fumetsu, he searched for the electronic key, hoping that Sephie's onslaught hadn't destroyed it. But to his surprise, he found it to be completely unscathed.

Pressing the button, he was prepared to listen to where the strongbox might be, but he wasn't prepared when he heard the click right next to him. Looking to his right, he saw the strongbox on the floor, right in the open.

"What the shell?"

"Um… that wasn't there before, was it?" Sarah asked when she and the others also noticed the box.

"No, it wasn't. It couldn't have been." said Donatello.

"So it just appeared out of thin air? Is anyone else creeped out by this?" Michelangelo asked.

"There is something strange going on. Stranger than normal. But we can worry about that later, now we must get this cure back to Tyroth." said Leonardo as he grabbed the small vial in the strongbox.

With the cure in hand, the team left the cave, knowing that it would be a long walk back to Mutopia for them, with how badly they had been beaten earlier.

But, once they were all beyond eye- and earshot, the remains of Fumetsu, his body, weapons and even the strongbox, all dissolved into mist. The mist swirled for a while, before coming together and turning into Fumetsu once again, completely unharmed.

"Well done, my dear. A well earned victory indeed. But it is not so easy to slay me, after all, I am Fumetsu Misuto. Immortal Mist. We will meet again, in due time."

Fumetsu dispersed into mist, which faded away as his presence vanished from the caverns.

 **So what did you guys think about that fight? Rather epic showdown.**

 **But it seems that Sephie's powers were only temporary. Or are they?**

 **That may be answered in the future, just as what Fumetsu really is.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Unexpected News**

 **Sorry that it's taken a while, but life and the block have been interrupting. Still writing when I can though, don't assume anything else.**

It was a long and tedious walk back to Mutopia, but at least the moral of the group was higher than when they had arrived in the cave. With the cure in hand, they had the means to save Tyroth, they just hoped that they still had time.

Thinking back on the vision she had had, Sephie was very worried that they might actually be too late, that Tyroth had passed away and given her his power as a parting gift, but she refused to believe it. He was still alive, he had to be.

Once they reached Mutopia again, they were met by Rattletrap.

"Man, what happened you guys? Just how many bad guys were there?"

"Only one, but you should have seen him once we were done with him." said Michelangelo.

"I'll take yer word for it." Rattletrap responded, not quite sure what to make of it. "I'm guessing you want to get back to the med-room, well I won't keep ya. Hurry along."

Reaching the entrance to the medical room, they met April, James, George and Splinter, all of which were really worried when they saw the state they were all in. But Donatello assured them all that they were fine enough to wait until after they had helped Tyroth.

"How is he?" Sephie asked, hoping that the vision hadn't been what she feared.

"He's steadily getting weaker, but he's still fighting." said James. "I hope that you got that cure, if it actually exists."

"Don't worry, we got it." said Leonardo as he handed the small vial to the chimpanzee. "Now it is up to you, April and Donnie."

James examined the vial, and the label on it, which held some very basic instructions on how to use.

"If this is correct, then we must administer this entire dose to Tyroth, or it won't be enough."

"Then we got no other choice. And I was hoping to be able to analyse some of it in case we run into more of that poison. Maybe I can… sorry, I'm rambling. Let's do this." said Donatello.

Transferring the cure to a syringe, they injected it into Tyroth, praying that it would work.

Almost immediately, Tyroth started to regain his colour and his breathing became less strained. A few minutes later, he looked as healthy as he used to, and his eyes fluttered and slowly opened.

"Hey… how's it going…?" he said when he saw his friends, still rather weak from his ordeal as he sat up.

"You're okay!" Sephie said and threw her arms around his neck, holding him closely. "I was so afraid that I had lost you!"

Everyone was overjoyed to see that the cure had worked, and Amber also gave Tyroth a hug, relieved that her brother had been saved.

"Thanks for saving me… I knew you guys could do it..."

"Don't mention it, Boss. You would have done the same for any of us." said Jack.

"But it wasn't easy, and technically we didn't do that much, it was Sephie who took down that creep." said Monalisa. "Like I've said before, you got a relentless lover, Tyroth."

"Though, I couldn't have done it without your help, hun." said Sephie.

"I felt that you could use a little boost." Tyroth said with a smile.

"Just how did you do that? And in a coma to boot?" asked Raphael.

"Well, being in a coma wasn't that different from being in deep meditation, and you all know that I'm good at that."

"So we've noticed." said Michelangelo. "But just what did you do to make Sephie be able to go Ty-wrath? Or should I say Se-fury?"

"For once, it wasn't something that I made up myself, but something that I learned from the dragon memories I possess. It's called Sos Gron, meaning Blood Bond, with it one dragon can give temporary give some of its power to another, as long as they share a close blood relation."

"Blood relation? Like siblings or cousins? But, does that mean that you and Sephie are related? Isn't that incest?" said Kate, and the rest were also concerned about that fact, but Tyroth just smiled.

"You don't have to worry, Sephie and I are not related that way. But it is true, it is required that the two parts are siblings, cousins, or parents of their child."

Hearing that, Sephie's eyes went wide as she began to piece together what Tyroth meant.

"That's right, love." he said with a warm smile and placed a hand on Sephie's stomach. "We're having a baby."

The room went silent as the news hit all of them. Sephie was the first to break the silence.

"A-a baby…? W-we're having… a-a baby…?" she stammered. Then her face lit up, tears rolling down her cheeks as she smiled widely before throwing her arms around her lover again. "That's wonderful! I can't believe it!"

"Can it be true?" George asked. "Are we to be blessed with a Mutopian born here? Ancestors be praised!"

"I never thought that it would happen. And I would never have guessed that you would be the one to tell me that I'm pregnant." said Sephie. "But when did it happen?"

"Last time we made love, just the other day, and I kinda felt how the new life had started to grow in you while I was in a coma."

"But that's such a short time ago. How could it happen so fast?" asked Monalisa.

"From what I understand, if a dragon pregnancy is successful, it only need a few hours to become… stable, for a lack of better words."

"So it is really true, you're gonna be parents. And I'm gonna be an aunt. This is so unreal. Mom and dad are gonna flip when you tell them the news." said Amber.

"This is most wonderful news, that the two of you will be blessed with a child." said Splinter. "The second mutant child to be born. I can only congratulate you and wish you all happiness as your family grows."

"Indeed, this is something well worth celebrating." said Leonardo. "And to think that these days that have been so dark, would end with such a blessing."

As everyone congratulated the couple, Tyroth and Sephie looked each other in the eyes, feeling happier than ever before, and Sephie's hand travelled to her stomach, where a new life was growing. They had an awful lot of work ahead of them, both in the near future and for many years to come. Their world was about to change again, and this time, that was a more than welcome change.

 **Yay! Tyroth is okay! And he and Sephie is having a baby! How many of you guessed that?**

 **But this story isn't over just yet, so keep checking in. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **Between Us Mothers**

Some time had passed since Tyroth had been cured, and since it had been revealed that he and Sephie were to have a baby. The word had spread like wildfire in the mutant sanctuary and it was all that anyone talked about for weeks. Other couples felt a glimmer of hope that they too could have children one day.

Sephie had had to trade her usual clothing for something more comfortable, given her now very swollen belly, so she wore a pair of blue sweatpants and a purple loose jumper. Most of the more troublesome symptoms, such as morning sickness, had passed, which she was happy about. She sat down in her bed, deciding to call a close friend of hers.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mona."

"Hi, Sephie! How is the mother-to-be?"

"Still very excited, not a single day goes by that I don't feel super happy about our baby."

"I know what you mean."

"I bet you do. But I also feel a bit left out, not being able to train or go on patrols with the rest of the Chicago Knights."

"Know that feeling too. When I was carrying Pandora, I couldn't wait for her to be born, so I could get back in action, but also so I could hold my child in my arms. Trust me, Sephie, you'll back in the game, it will just take some time."

"True, and it isn't all bad being out of commission like this, Tyroth has been pampering me like there's no tomorrow."

"I'm not surprised, we've all seen how caring he is with Sonia, and now that you're having your own child, I can imagine that he will work hard to take care of you both."

"You have no idea. But he has actually overdone it, there was a time where he wouldn't even let me walk on my own, he insisted on carrying me anywhere I wanted. I had to really tell him off about it before he would let me do something on my own again."

"Oh my gosh! I knew he was protective of you, but that sounds extreme, even for him."

"Apparently it is because he is part dragon. You know how the mother is the most protective of the young among most animals. Well, according to Tyroth, dragon mothers are more protective than a mother crocodile, but the dragon fathers are even more protective, guarding their families with their lives."

"That's crazy, but I guess that that means that nothing will threaten you or your child."

"So true." Sephie giggled. "I'm sure that everyone in Mutopia will make sure that the baby is safe, they are all very happy about it all, especially Tania."

"She's working on baby clothes, isn't she? Wonder what she'll make, regardless I bet it's gonna be so cute. But tell me, what did Tyroth's parents say once you told them the wonderful news?"

"Oh, Amber was right, they completely flipped. It didn't start out too well though, since we first told them what had happened to Tyroth. None of us had told them that he had been badly injured in the first place. They even scolded us for it, but they quickly changed their tone when they were told that they would be grandparents. I've never seen them so happy before, and Erica just wouldn't stop hugging me."

"You're really getting a lot of attention." Mona giggled.

"Yeah, but the more I think about all of this, the more I miss my parents and siblings. They may never know that I'm alive and well, let alone that I am a mother."

"I understand, Sephie. I have had those thoughts as well, still do from time to time. They're hard to bare, but you have to, there is no other way for us right now. And you're not alone, remember that."

"Thanks, Mona, I really appreciate it. But I'm afraid that that's not the only thing worrying me. Both Tyroth and I are worried that I might have a miscarriage, or that something might be wrong with the child."

"And the list goes on, I know, Raph was the same. But I don't think that you have to worry about anything like that. All you Mutopians are as healthy as can be, and if the baby inherit even half of Tyroth's healing ability it won't even catch a cold."

"You do got a good point there, but if it inherits his firebreath, he's the one doing the burping!" said Sephie, causing both to laugh happily.

"It feels so good to be able to talk with you, Mona, knowing that you're there for me. I really hope that you and the others can make it here again before the baby is born. Shouldn't be much more than a month, so you'd better start preparing."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Sephie, we'll be there before that. Wait, what?! A month?! Sephie, you've only been pregnant for roughly two months, that can't be right."

"I had the same reaction, but according to James, it seems like the baby is developing three times faster than normal. Just like how Sonia have grown faster than normal. That's also another reason that has me and Tyroth worried."

"My god, I can hardly believe it. Are you absolutely certain?"

"As certain as we can be, but we don't have the equipment to know for sure, no ultrasound device among other, so it's just how I have developed that tells how the baby is doing. And I assure you, my stomach is not that of someone two months pregnant, it's closer to six or seven months in size. I've also gone through all early symptoms in record time."

"I guess there's no room for doubt then. But I wonder why it is like that."

"Not sure, but it can't be a dragon thing, since Sonia is a chameleon."

"Actually, I think it might be."

"What do you mean, Mona?"

"The well was created by that ancient dragon, Thaenia, as a way to give us mortals the strength of dragons, to help defend our world. But as she told us, she wasn't able to properly complete it. However, I think that Sonia maturing faster, and your baby developing faster as well, could be part of the well's power, to make sure that those empowered could reproduce fast, as well as grow up fast, to fill the ranks quickly."

"It really sounds dark when you say it, but the well didn't have such a benevolent origin as we thought, so it does make sense."

"True, but whatever it was intended to be, has changed since then. Now, it is what gave a second chance and a new life to all of you Mutopians, and soon you too will bring a new life to the world."

"And I still can't believe it. Can I ask you a favour, Mona?"

"Of course."

"Could you visit before it's time, it would mean a lot to me."

"Gladly. Nothing short of a disaster will stop me, I'll make sure that we all come over before too long, I promise."

"Thank you, Mona."

 **A short little conversation between two good friends, explaining a bit of what's happened since the last chapter as well as the joys and hurdles with becoming a parent.**

 **Now, I want to know, in the reviews, what to you think the baby will be? A boy or a girl? Let me know down below and we'll see just how many of you that guess correct.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **Second Visit**

A few weeks had passed since Sephie and Monalisa had had their talk, and the gecko could feel that the day for the delivery was drawing close. Honouring her word, Monalisa and everyone from New York returned to spend time with their dear friends and be present when the baby was born.

Having gathered in the recreation room, the New Yorkers had brought gifts to the couple and their soon to be born child. Sephie was dressed in a loose and comfortable, white sleeve-less dress, her stomach was big and swollen and her breasts were heavy with milk.

She was almost ecstatic over the gifts as she opened the first one, given by Donatello, and inside it were many colourful building blocks of soft but durable foam.

"It might take a few years before the baby will be old enough to really appreciate building with blocks, but these are so soft and harmless that I'm sure they will be fun even earlier than that." said Donatello.

"Thank you, Donnie. I'm sure they will be great." said Sephie.

"The next gift is from me and Raph." said Monalisa as she handed Sephie a box. Inside were a pair of baby alarms.

"We used them when Pandora was smaller," said Raphael. "but I have a feeling that you will need them more than we do now. And trust me, they are such a great help."

"That means a lot to us. Thanks, both of you." said Tyroth.

Next was April and Casey, and their present was a soft one.

"Found these in the store." Casey explained.

"The first one is a given favourite for just about anyone, but the second, as soon as we saw that, we knew that would be perfect."

The couple wasn't sure what the humans meant, and with the myriad of things that Second Time Around had, it could be just about anything. Unwrapping the soft package, Sephie found a cute and cuddly teddy bear, the fur was soft and brown. But the second thing in the package made Sephie laugh. A red plush dragon with four stubby legs and tiny wings, and it had a decent resemblance to Tyroth due to the colour-scheme.

"A dragon! How cute! And it even looks a bit like you, hun."

"So I've noticed."

"Yeah, we noticed it too, and we just couldn't resist. And we hope that the baby will love it too, since it looks like its father." said April.

"Both of these are just great, April, Casey, thank you both so much." said Sephie.

"Next present is from us two!" said Michelangelo as Pandora carefully handed Sephie another soft package.

"Uncle Mikey and me made this, Aunt Sephie."

"Oh, you did? Thank you sweetheart."

Opening the present, Sephie found a pink blanket with colourful patches decorating one side. One could see that it was handmade, being a bit rough in the design, but it was still a well-made blanket.

"You two made that? I'm impressed, it's a very nice gift." said Tyroth with a smile.

"So that's what you have been up to the last week. Didn't know that you could sew." said Raphael.

"Well… I'm full of surprises, and Pandora helped." Michelangelo said a bit sheepishly.

"Did we do good?" Pandora asked, to which Sephie hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, making her giggle.

"It's beautiful, thank you both." Sephie said.

"Our final gift, aside from our best wishes, is from me and Leonardo." said Splinter, and they had a rectangular and somewhat flat gift.

Tyroth carefully opened it and his eyes widened. It was a painting with Japanese writing at the bottom and Norse runes above, both going the width of the painting.

"We actually had to do some research to get the runes right." said Leonardo. "I assume that you know what they say."

"That I do. 'Faith, Hope, Love, Family', and in old Swedish to boot. And I'm guessing that it say the same in Japanese too."

"You are correct. We found it a fitting symbol of our friendship to have those words in both languages, and a good blessing for your growing family." said Splinter.

"You honour us with this gift, thank you."

"Now, I've very curious to what the rest of the town has given you, this **is** the biggest news after all, so they have got to have gotten you something big." said Casey.

Tyroth and Sephie looked at each other and smiled.

"Oh, they got us something big alright. Come on, we'll show you." said Sephie. With the aid of Tyroth, she got up from the couch, and they both led the others out of the recreation room.

Walking across the town square, they were lead towards Tyroth and Sephie's room, but rather than entering the room, they steered off to the room to the left of it. Opening the door, Tyroth showed them what the rest of Mutopia had given the parents-to-be.

The walls were a warm cream colour, with cute animals paintings hanging high up all across the walls. A small drawer held some of the clothes made by Tania, and next to it stood a lidless chest, filled with many simple toys, both against the far wall, and there were many pillows in all colours all over the room. On the floor lay a large mat shaped like a green frog, right in front of the crib. Hanging over the crib was a mobile with all kinds of animals.

"Wow! This is just incredible." said Monalisa. "It's almost like how Pandora's room looked back when I expected her."

"Yeah, just less turtles and ninja things." said Michelangelo.

"All of Mutopia helped with this project, either painting, building or cleaning, even donating much of the stuff as well." said Tyroth. "This room originally belonged to a fox mutant named Leona, but she suggested that they turn it into a room for our baby instead, since it's next to our room."

"She gave up her own room for your sake? What a kind woman. But is she really okay with that?" asked April.

"Don't worry, we got enough spare rooms to go around, even with the guest rooms for you guys. So she just moved to another vacant room." Sephie assured.

"Seems you got everything set up for the new arrival then, and this new baby room is incredible." said Leonardo. "I'm sure the baby will have a great childhood."

"Speaking of the little one, what are you expecting? A little dude, or a little dudette?" Michelangelo asked.

Sephie was about to say something, when she grimaced slightly and held her stomach with one hand.

"Whatever it is, it will be a fighter, at least if the kicks I've been getting are anything to go on."

"Pandora was the same way." said Monalisa.

"Honestly though, we haven't thought that much about it." said Tyroth.

"But we have been thinking of several names, both for boys and girls, though we haven't decided on anything yet." said Sephie, lovingly rubbing her swollen stomach.

"I'm sure you'll find something that feels right soon." said April.

"Yeah, but right now, I want to do something fun."

"Oh, how about we play some games?" said Michelangelo.

"I want to play too, mommy." said Pandora cheerfully.

"Of course you can, little geisha. The games may be a little too hard for you, but you can try if you want to." said Monalisa.

"And if Mikey is too good, I can help you beat him." said Raphael with a smirk.

"Yay!"

"That all sounds like a wonderful idea. I'm game for it." said Sephie.

"Are you sure? We don't want you to overexert yourself." said Leonardo.

"Just because I'm close to maybe eight months worth of pregnancy, doesn't mean I can't hand you your shells in a game."

"Take it from me, she's still not to be trifled with." said Tyroth with a smile.

* * *

The days went by, and the friends spent a lot of time together, something that Sephie enjoyed a lot. Standing on one of the bridges in the village, still dressed in the white dress, she looked out across what had been her home for several years, thinking of the time that had gone by since her life was forever changed.

Never could she had imagined when she and Tyroth first met, that they would end up as mutants, and despite all the strange and incredible things they had experienced since then, the fact that she might become pregnant always seemed like something that would never happen, and yet it did. Letting her hands rest on her stomach, a few tears of happiness rolled down her cheeks.

"Still having trouble believing it, hun?" Tyroth said as he walked up next to her.

"I guess so." she said, wiping her tears. "It still feels like a dream. And I have had that dream before."

"Have you? You never told me about that."

"There was so much going on at that time. It was back when we were in Skyrim."

"That was indeed a very… hectic time."

"It sure was, and so I never really felt that there was a good time to tell you about it."

"It's okay, besides, I prefer the reality we have now."

"Yeah, me too."

A pain from Sephie's stomach made her grimace slightly.

"Are you all right, love?" Tyroth asked.

"The baby is just kicking again." she responded, but then there was another surge of pain, and another. "Ngh… or maybe not…"

Her knees buckled and she could feel something wet trickle down her legs.

"Sephie!" Tyroth exclaimed as he caught her, he then noticed the wet stain underneath his mate and understood what was happening.

"The baby…" Sephie said with a low and strained voice. "It's coming…"

 **Those were some great gifts, and that room, so adorable.  
And the baby is coming! Join us next time to see what it will be!**

 **Also, a quick note that I've been meaning to write since two chapters back: Amber, being Tyroth's sister, could also have gotten the same powers as Sephie, and just might one day. Sure, it might have said itself, but I just felt that I needed to write it too.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **A New Life**

Tyroth ran to the medical room, carrying Sephie in his arms like a bride, all while she cried and winced in pain as the baby was on its way. This didn't go unnoticed by the people, and within a short time, James, Donatello and April had all been made aware of the situation, and quickly prepared for the delivery.

Everything came as a shock to Tyroth's parents, who had just arrived for a visit. Hearing Sephie's pained cries first thing after entering Mutopia scared them something fierce, and it took a while before they were able to calm down enough to figure out what was going on, after which, they hurried over to the medical room, just like the rest of Mutopia.

"Put her on the bed!" James instructed Tyroth, while Donatello and April prepared the equipment.

"Everyone, stay out of the medical room!" he then barked. But as he went back to Sephie, she grabbed him by the collar and gave him a pained but angry glare that could have killed.

"Tyroth stays!" she almost screamed. She couldn't bare the thought of him not being present at that crucial time.

"O-of course." the chimpanzee stuttered, both from being shocked and from having trouble to breathe because of Sephie's grip. Once she had gotten the answer she wanted, she released James, and he quickly brushed it all aside as a mood swing.

* * *

Outside, everyone was gathered, all praying that the birth would go without complications. The only thing that they could hear through the closed doors however, were the pain-filled cries of Sephie, and it pained them as well. Especially Michelangelo, who remembered when Monalisa gave birth to Pandora, and how painful it sounded, how worried he was for her sake, and now for Sephie's sake. But he wasn't the only one.

Even though Monalisa wanted to be near her best friend at the time, she had taken it upon herself to look after not just Pandora, but Sonia as well. She knew that they too worried about their aunt, and she didn't want them to hear all the screams. Luckily, Pandora was sleeping at the time, and being in their room, the doors kept the cries out. But Sonia had heard them when it all started, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Aunt Mona? Why is Sephie crying?" Sonia asked, her colour a dark blue to match her worried state.

"The baby is on its way, and it's very painful for a mother to give birth."

"But why?"

"A baby may be small, but it is still so big that it hurts when it's born. The same happened to me when Pandora was born, and I'm very sure that it was so for your mother too."

"Will the same happen to me?"

"If you get pregnant one day. But that won't be possible for at least several years."

"Why not?" Sonia asked, now yellow as she was both curious and a little scared.

"That is something your uncle will have to explain to you, once you're a little older."

"Everyone say that." Sonia said, pouting and changing to a darker red colour because of how annoyed she was that she had to wait until she was older with many of the questions she had asked after Sephie got pregnant.

Monalisa just smiled at the young chameleon girl, and noticed that her red colour almost matched Tyroth's. It made her think about just how the baby might look, how much it would resemble either parent, just like Pandora had a few traits from Raphael.

* * *

Back in the medical room, Sephie was in position to begin, grimacing and crying as the pains kept getting worse. Sitting by her side, was Tyroth, gently stroking her hair in an effort to comfort her.

"Are we ready to begin?" James asked, he and the others having changed into medical gowns.

"I think so, but..." Donatello began, and felt around a bit more on Sephie's swollen stomach. "I'm actually not sure if the baby is in the right position or not, it feels strange."

Sephie cried out loudly as another wave of sharp pain hit her.

"I don't think we have the time to figure out why." said April with a worried look on her face.

"Agreed, we have to begin." said James. "Sephie, when you are ready, start pushing."

Looking at her mate and lover as he stood next to her, Sephie took the hand he offered in her own as they exchanged a nod. Clenching her teeth, she took a deep breathe and threw her head back as she pushed all she could, screaming loudly as she did.

"Fuck that hurt!" she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You're doing great, Sephie." said Donatello.

"You can do this." said April.

Another scream filled the room as Sephie pushed again, her hand gripping Tyroth's so hard that she thought she might crush the bones, yet he held hers in a firm and gentle grip.

"I can see the head!" James reported, relieved that the baby was indeed in the right position, as were the others. "Just keep pushing, Sephie, you're doing fine."

"I don't know if I can! It hurts so much!"

"You can, honey, I know you can. Just breathe calmly." Tyroth said, stroking her forehead.

Finding strength in her lover's words, Sephie gritted her teeth and pushed again, more tears streaming down her cheeks as she screamed, feeling how the baby came closer to completely emerging.

"One more time! You're almost done!" said James.

With one final, painful push, screaming loudly as she did, Sephie could feel how the baby finally slid out, followed by a shrill cry from the end of the bed.

"Congratulations, Sephie, Tyroth!" said James as he stood up holding the small mutant baby. "You are now the proud parents of a little daughter!"

The couple truly beamed upon hearing the news, looking up with tears of happiness in their eyes.

As James and Donatello helped each other to clean the tiny baby with towels, they both looked at each other with a bit of worry. The child was smaller than it should be, only two thirds of a normal baby, but being a mutant hybrid, normal wasn't the norm. But what really caught their eyes, was a large blister-like bulb on the mutant's back, seemingly filled with some liquid.

As they carefully wiped it, the big blister burst open, spilling out a clear liquid and revealing a pair of tiny wings. The rest of the thin skin of the blister was easily wiped off the baby's back, and the couple could finally see just how their little daughter looked.

For the most part, she looked a lot like a tiny version of Sephie, being like a tiny gecko with a small amount of dark brown hair on her head and a tail hanging heavily. The scales were mostly intensely green with patches of red on the lower arms and shins and wings, while the chest, belly, wing-membranes and underside of the tail were yellow. She also had two small blunt spikes of scales at the end of her tail, three toes and four fingers with rounded black nails that would one day grow into claws, as well as a pair of blunt nubs on her head that would become horns, just like her father's.

April offered a pair of surgical scissors to Tyroth to cut the umbilical cord with, but he declined. Instead he used his mana claws to cut it, which worked just as well and felt a bit symbolic. Once that was done, the crying baby was wrapped in a towel and handed to her father.

"Drem kiir, mu los hin fron." he said softly as he held her, and she stopped crying almost instantly, looking up at her father. Their eyes locked, both having red eyes with vertically slit pupils, and she started gurgling happily, feeling the kinship between the two.

Sephie was curious to what Tyroth had said, but before she could say anything, another powerful wave of pain struck her, causing her to yell out.

"What the fuck now!?" Then, even more pain struck her. "No! Don't tell me… Aaahhh!"

"We're not done yet people!" said James. "It seems the girl has a sibling!"

"Okay, you know the drill, Sephie! Push!" said Donatello.

Tyroth stood by Sephie's side, holding her hand with one hand while cradling their daughter in his other arm, as Sephie once again began the painful process of giving birth. Luckily, she was still slightly numb from the first delivery, so the second didn't hurt as much, if only marginally.

"Keep at it! I can see the head now!" said James.

"Don't give up, you're almost done!" said April.

After a couple of more pushes, each still very painful, the room was again filled with a shrill crying of a newborn mutant.

"More congratulations are in order!" said Donatello. "And it's a boy this time!"

"You were so good, this wasn't easy, but you pulled through." said April.

The little boy looked almost exactly as his sister, with the lack of hair on his head being the only difference other than his gender. He even had the same kind of blister-like sack on his back, containing a tiny pair of wings. Tyroth cut the umbilical cord like before, and once his son was all clean, he took him in his arms, saying the same phrase as earlier, while Sephie finally got to hold her first-born.

"There better not be triplets." she said under her breath, more than exhausted from the experience. Then she looked at her daughter, and tears began to fall.

"She's beautiful. So tiny."

"They are both beautiful." Tyroth said, letting Sephie see her son as well.

"Never thought that it would be twins, but that explains why it felt strange when I tried to figure out its position." said Donatello.

"That sure was a surprise." said James. "If you feel ready, I'll start letting people in."

"Bet they can't wait to see the next generation." said April. "But all won't fit in here at the same time. Better take it in smaller groups."

"Agreed. We'll start with family and closest friends, like you and the Knights. Then the rest of Mutopia, split in two groups."

* * *

Outside, people were getting a bit jittery. They had heard Sephie's screams, but the doors blocked the cries of the newborns, so no-one had any idea of what had happened, they only knew that it had been a longer break between the screams at one point. Now it was quiet again.

"I wonder how they are doing." said Erica, Tyroth's mother. "I hope nothing has gone wrong."

"Everything will be alright, Mom. I know it." said Amber.

The doors opened, and James came out, getting everyone's attention. He looked at Erica and her husband, Richard, smiling widely as he gave them all the news.

"My friends, I have great news! The delivery went well, and Tyroth and Sephie are now the parents of a baby girl **and** a baby boy! They got twins!"

At once, everyone began cheering loudly, everyone had guessed whether it would be a boy or a girl, but only a rare few even thought of twins. Being blessed with not one, but two babies was almost overwhelming. Raphael quickly ran off to fetch Monalisa and the children, so they too could meet the new arrivals.

* * *

Back in their room, Pandora had just woken up from her nap.

"Hey there, little geisha." her mother said. "Sweet dreams?"

"Mmhm." the small lizard said, rubbing her eyes.

"Mona? Are you there?" they could hear Raphael ask through the door before opening it. "It's done! Everything went well."

"Oh thank goodness, that's a relief. What did they get?"

"You'll have to see for yourself, babe. I won't spoil the surprise."

"Fair enough."

"The baby is here?" Sonia asked.

"Can we see, mommy?" said Pandora.

"Of course we can."

"Then let's go, the others are probably already on their way in." said Raphael.

* * *

Erica, Richard and Amber where the first ones inside the medical room, and they couldn't help but gush over the twins. They were closely followed by Gramps, Casey, the Knights and remaining turtles, all of which reacted the same. And a few minutes later, Raphael, Monalisa, Pandora and Sonia also arrived.

"This truly bring tears to my old eyes." said George. "After all these years, we finally have a birth among us."

"They are just adorable!" said Sarah.

"A little dude **and** a little dudette! How awesome is that!" said Michelangelo.

"Twins?! I didn't expect that!" said Monalisa, holding Pandora in her arms.

"Looking back, I'm honestly not surprised." Sephie said, cradling her own daughter, while looking at her mate, which cradled their son in his arms. "I got twins for younger siblings, and my father is a twin as well, so it's in the family. I just didn't expect that I actually would have twins myself."

"They look so cute, you can really see that they are your children." said Amber. "And my niece and nephew! I honestly feel a lot older all of a sudden!"

"What about us then? We are **grandparents** now!" said Erica.

"And that is the best news we've gotten since we learned that our son was alive, and that our daughter was saved." said Richard. "If we're old, then so be it. This is worth it."

"Keep that in mind if we need to have you to babysit them one day, Dad." said Tyroth with a smug smile. "That goes for all of you actually."

"You need us to take care of your little ones, just ask, we won't let you down, boss." said Jack.

"Well, Percy might." Kate said with a smirk, making the others laugh, while the grasshopper still struggled to come to grips with the witty remark from Kate of all people.

"So, what are you gonna call the little geckolings?" Michelangelo asked, curious to know the names of the babies.

"Geckolings. I actually like that. Where did you get that from, Mikey?" Sephie asked.

"Well, in movies and games and such, kid dragons are called dragonlings. Is it the same for real dragons?"

"Mostly they just referred to their young as hatchlings, but dragonling is the correct term, yes." Tyroth clarified. "And I'm guessing you switched the 'dragon' for 'gecko'."

"Ah man! You stole my thunder!"

"But seriously, what are you going to name them?" Heather asked, ignoring Michelangelo's dramatics.

"We've been thinking about that for a while, and then I got an idea." Sephie said proudly. "Since Raph and Mona named Pandora from Greek mythology, I thought we'd do the same, but from Norse mythology, since that is an important part of Tyroth's heritage."

"I'm actually ashamed that I didn't think of that first, but I agreed wholeheartedly with her on the theme."

"So don't keep us on the ropes any longer. Tell us already!" said Casey.

"Yeah! We're dying to find out!" said Sharky.

"I want our daughter to be named… Freya. After the Norse goddess of love and beauty." Sephie said.

"Goddess of love and beauty, like Aphrodite from the Greek myths." said Monalisa.

"Yeah, though Freya had more domains than just those." said Tyroth. "She was also the goddess of seidr, a form of magic, as well as of gold, sex, fertility, death and war."

"Death and war?! Didn't expect that from a love goddess." said Raphael.

"Pretty much everyone of the Norse gods were gods of war or death in some way.."

"Okay, so if she is Freya, what about her brother? Is he to be Thor? Or maybe Frey, Freya's brother?" asked Amber.

"We've considered both those names, among other. But after the stunt this little rascal pulled on us, I can't think of a better name than Loki. After the Trickster God."

"He sure tricked us. Freya, and her little brother Loki. That is just perfect." said Sephie. "Welcome to the world, Freya, Loki."

"Now begins the real work, guys. Raising them." said Monalisa with a smile.

"That reminds me." Tyroth said, and gently placed a pair of fingers on Freya's for head. A warm red light flowed from Tyroth into both his children for a short moment. "There, that should do it."

"What did you do?" George asked.

"I sealed their fire-breath and magic, so they don't use it by accident. A common practice for dragons."

"That's a really good idea, now I won't have to worry about it." said Sephie, feeling very relieved that she wouldn't have to risk getting burned. "By the way, you said something to the babies in dragon that instantly calmed them down, what was that?"

"Oh you mean 'drem kiir, mu los hin fron'. The closest thing I could compare it with is a mix between a nursery rhyme and a blessing. It means 'peace child, we are your kin'."

"Child? Not dragonling or hatchling?" April asked.

"Originally it was hatchling, but dragons also came to watch over humans for a long time, and they extended their blessing to human newborns as well, changing it slightly. And since these two aren't dragons or hatched from eggs, I felt that it was appropriate."

"If there was ever any doubt that you would be a good father, you have just disproved all of them." said Leonardo.

"You will all have plenty of time to talk in the days to come." said James. "But there are others who would love to see the newest additions to Mutopia, and Sephie needs her rest after this ordeal."

"We understand, doc. We won't be much longer." said Raphael. "Just a few more minutes, and we'll be done. There are a few that have yet to say hi."

Amber led Sonia closer to the bed, while Monalisa followed with Pandora in her arms, everyone else standing aside.

"Pandora, these are your new cousins, Freya and Loki." Monalisa said.

"That goes for you too, Sonia, they are your cousins too." said Amber as the two young lizards finally got a really good look at the babies.

"They are so tiny." Sonia said. "So very tiny."

"Can they play with us?" Pandora quickly followed with.

"Not yet, little geisha. They are too young." said Monalisa.

"What about tomorrow? They will be a day older then." said Sonia.

"Yay! Then we can play!" Pandora squealed. The grown ups just laughed, the two girls were just too cute.

"It doesn't work that way, you two." said Sephie. "But I promise, once they are old enough, you can all play together."

"Yay!"

"Thank you, Aunt Sephie!"

* * *

It took at least half an hour before all of Mutopia had had the chance to see the babies and congratulate the couple. Tania was probably the most excited of the bunch, because she had make even more baby clothes for the twins, and she really looked forward to that.

After all had left, and Tyroth had fetched the crib for the babies so that they could sleep later, Sephie fell asleep. She was incredibly tired, but felt so happy to be a mother. Both of them would spend the night in the medical room, together with their children.

Their greatest adventure to date had come to an end, but the greatest they would ever have had just begun.

 **Yay! I'm so happy! The birth went well and they got twins! I've had this plan in my head, working on it for so long, and I really hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, and this story as well.**

 **However! It is not the end of the story, there is one more chapter that will tie up some things.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **Unexpected Visit**

It had been a week since the twin Geckolings had been born, and Mutopia was still bubbling with joy and excitement over the newborns, and probably would for many months to come, if not years even. Tyroth and Sephie had had a lot to do taking care of their children, and Raphael and Monalisa was more than willing to share their own experiences with the new parents.

But they weren't the only ones. Tania also had a lot to do, making even more baby clothes to the twins. No one had expected twins, so there weren't enough clothes to properly go around. Tania, however, didn't complain, she loved the work.

Sephie spent all her time in Mutopia, taking care of her babies and recovering from her pregnancy, a process that would take several weeks, and she really wanted to get back in the action together with the others. Still, she had to prioritise what was most important, and she wasn't alone with taking care of the little ones. Tyroth helped her the most, taking the care of their children very seriously, as well as that of his mate.

Monalisa also helped when she could, keeping Sephie company while they both watched over the babies, together with Pandora sometimes. And Amber wasn't any less helpful, she was their Aunt by blood after all, so she gladly took a load of Sephie and Tyroth's shoulders, as did their parents, who would frequent Mutopia more often in the future.

* * *

Sitting in the temple with the magical well, Tyroth was doing his daily meditation to help develop and temper his magic, something that he would have to teach his children in one day as well. Whenever he meditated like that, he was close to impossible to contact. But a presence appearing in the temple managed to bring him out of his deep state of meditation.

"Greetings, my dear dragon fellow." a creepily familiar jolly voice said behind Tyroth. His head quickly turned around, facing the source of the voice and his eyes went wide.

"You!?"

Standing by the pillar with the chant of the dragon Thaenia, was none other than Fumetsu Misuto himself, and he bowed as deeply and exaggerated as the first time the two had met. It didn't take more than a few seconds before Tyroth had risen to his feet, dashed over to Fumetsu and grabbed him by the throat, pressing him against the wall.

"Oof! Careful, wouldn't want to damage the writing on these walls."

"You're supposed to be dead!" Tyroth snarled loudly. "Sephie killed you!"

"She certainly tried, a very good effort too I might add, but there is a reason to why I am known as Fumetsu Misuto, Immortal Mist."

"Then I will make sure to kill you for good!"

But before Tyroth could do anything, Fumetsu dissolved into mist, and escaped his grasp, reforming a few feet away.

"That will not be necessary. Despite our brief history, I am not your enemy."

"You expect me to believe that?!"

"What you believe is actually not important. What is important, is what happened." Fumetsu said, gaining Tyroth's interest. The dragon cautiously listened to what his former assailant had to say, while being prepared for anything.

"You see, I knew that I would be beaten, but only after you and your dear mate had grown stronger, which I orchestrated by poisoning you. Now, you are immune to that poison, Sephie knows how to use the powers given to her by you, and there is a new generation with the best qualities of you both. Congratulations to the twins by the way, I am certain that they will grow up to become powerful crime-fighters, just like yourself."

"You know an awful lot, and about a lot of things. How? What's your game?"

"I know how to know, and as to what my intentions are, I will not tell, but time will."

As suddenly as he had appeared, Fumetsu disappeared in a cloud of mist, dissipating completely.

"Until next time. Ta ta!" the disembodied voice said, and Tyroth could feel how Fumetsu's presence vanished. Whoever, or whatever, Fumetsu was, it was clear that there was a whole lot more to him that meets the eye.

* * *

On a rooftop in Chicago, Fumetsu reformed, looking out over the city and beyond. After a short moment of silence, he pulled out a cellphone from his sleeve and dialed a number.

"Yes?" an impatient male voice answered after a few signals.

"Hello, Izo Arashi. Fumetsu here, reporting in." Fumetsu said, just as happy as always.

"Fumetsu?! Where have you been?!" Arashi snapped furiously. "It's been nearly five months since I hired your services! With how you approached me, and your skills, I expected results within a week! But not even once have I heard from you, you damned mercenary!"

"My apologies, but surely you understand that the dragon is the most dangerous of prey."

"Fine." Arashi sighed, trying to calm down a bit. "The fact that you're still alive is good news to me, assuming that you actually tried to fulfil the contract, and not hid somewhere all this time."

"Oh, I assure you, I have been active, after all, it's not every day that you get a contract to kill a dragon mutant. However, I regret to report that I failed."

"YOU WHAT!?"

"I failed, I couldn't kill the dragon. Sad, isn't it? But I guess our business is concluded then. Ta ta!"

With that, Fumetsu hung up in Arashi's ear, leaving the leader of the Foot seething with anger in his throne-room.

"Curse that clown! I should have known better than to rely on a blade for hire!"

* * *

Back on the rooftop, Fumetsu put away his cellphone and looked up at the starry sky.

"Events are in motion. The future still has a chance. We will meet again, Tyroth the Dragon."

With that, he vanished in another cloud of mist.

 **And with that, this story comes to an end, and quite the journey too.  
**

 **As you have read, Arashi was the one who contracted Fumetsu to kill Tyroth, but the mercenary had his own intentions, which are still a secret. And he did approach Arashi with the offer to begin with, so there is a lot going on.**

 **There will be more of him in future stories, and even more of the Geckolings Freya and Loki, which I'm really looking forward to writing more about.**

 **See you next time! :)**


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